China's BioKangtai begins first shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot

BEIJING, Nov 18 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc's
COVID-19 vaccine partner in China, Shenzhen Kangtai Biological
Products (BioKangtai), has begun its first shipment
of the shot, sending more than four million doses to Indonesia,
BioKangtai said on Friday.

Including the first batch, BioKangtai plans to send over
eight million doses of the China-made AstraZeneca shot, branded
as KconecaVac, to Indonesia this month, Zhang Qian, general
manager at BioKangtai's international affairs department, said
in a video interview with local media.

BioKangtai has the right to manufacture the vaccine, and the
right to sell it in mainland China, Indonesia and Pakistan.

The shot hasn't begun clinical trials in China, which
AstraZeneca hoped to start last year before the application for
local regulatory approval for the shot.

Shenzhen-based BioKangtai, which has its own COVID-19
vaccine approved by China, hasn't said why trials for the
AstraZeneca shot have been delayed.

Western companies including AstraZeneca and BioNTech
have partnered with Chinese firms to bring their shots
to the country, but China has not allowed the use of any
coronavirus vaccines developed and approved overseas.

BioKangtai said in February its facility dedicated to making
the AstraZeneca shot was expected to reach an annual production
capacity of 400 million doses. Its actual production rate
remains unclear.

AstraZeneca has already shipped about 10 million doses of
its COVID-19 vaccine to Indonesia as of October, according to
Indonesia's health ministry. The southeast Asian country has
also received the vaccine through the global vaccine sharing
scheme COVAX.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo
Additional reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta
Editing by Mark Potter)