FT

SK Bioscience Co

09/01/2023 01:18

(Adds details from the Financial Times report, and background)
       Jan 9 (Reuters) - SK Bioscience Co Ltd  302440.KS  chief
executive Jaeyong Ahn said in a Financial Times interview that
it is unlikely that the vaccine maker can supply COVID-19
vaccines to China amid its recent outbreak due to Beijing's
"national pride".
    Ahn said that it was "unrealistic" to supply COVID vaccines
to China, as the country insists on using its own, the newspaper
quoted him as saying.
    SK Bioscience is monitoring whether any COVID variants are
emerging from China, the report said.
    On Sunday, China's National Healthcare Security
Administration (NHSA) did not include Pfizer Inc's  PFE.N 
Paxlovid in an update to its list of medicines covered by basic
medical insurance schemes, saying that the U.S. firm quoted a
high price for the COVID-19 drug.
    Chinese hospitals are under intense pressure after the
government abandoned its "zero-COVID" policy last month, sending
infections soaring. 
    The abrupt changes have exposed many of China's 1.4 billion
population to the virus for the first time, triggering an
infection wave that is overwhelming some hospitals, emptying
pharmacy shelves of medication and causing international alarm.
 (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
 ((rishabh.jaiswal@thomsonreuters.com;))