(Adding details throughout)
By Roxanne Liu and Tony Munroe
BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Shenzhen Kangtai Biological
Products will produce AstraZeneca Plc's
potential COVID-19 vaccine in mainland China, the British
drugmaker said on Thursday, its first deal to supply one of the
world's most populous countries.
To meet market demand in China, Shenzhen Kangtai will ensure
it has annual production capacity of at least 100 million doses
of the experimental shot AZD1222, which AstraZeneca co-developed
with researchers at Oxford University, by the end of this year,
AstraZeneca said.
It must have capacity to produce at least 200 million doses
by the end of next year as part of the exclusive framework
agreement, its statement on the Chinese social media site WeChat
added.
The two companies will also explore the possibility of
cooperation on the vaccine candidate in other markets,
AstraZeneca said.
There are no approved vaccines for COVID-19, the highly
contagious respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus,
but the World Health Organization (WHO) has said AstraZeneca’s
shot is one of the leading candidates.
The company has signed manufacturing deals globally to meet
its target of making 2 billion doses of the vaccine.
The companies did not respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Writing by Josephine Mason;
Editing by Kevin Liffey and Jan Harvey)
Astrazeneca (AZN)