S.Korea in talks to secure 40 mln doses of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine (updated)

SK Chemicals

20/01/2021 07:51

(Recasts with more details)
    By Joyce Lee
    SEOUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - South Korea is in talks to
purchase 40 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine developed by
Novavax  NVAX.O , its local manufacturer SK bioscience said on
Wednesday.
    The deal, if agreed, will boost supply of COVID-19 vaccines
in the country to 146 million doses, more than enough for its 52
million residents, and comes as it prepares to start mass
inoculations in February.
    SK bioscience, which also manufactures AstraZeneca's  AZN.L 
COVID-19 vaccine, is working on a technology transfer deal with
Novavax which will allow it to produce and sell vaccines on its
own, the drugmaker arm of SK Chemicals  285130.KS  said.
    A deal with the South Korean government could be its first
direct supply deal.
    South Korea's President Moon Jae-in visited SK's worksite on
Wednesday and said the agreement between Novavax and SK
bioscience raised the possibility of securing additional doses
of vaccines.
    The country has already secured 106 million doses to allow
for coverage of 56 million people from global vaccine supply
facility COVAX and Western drugmakers including Pfizer  PFE.N ,
Moderna  MRNA.O , AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson  JNJ.N .
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JF07J
    Moon's visit comes as his administration faces criticism for
not taking the necessary steps to achieve its goal of reaching
herd immunity to the coronavirus through mass vaccinations by
November.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JU1IN
    The government had laid out a timeline that calls for
vaccinations of key individuals to begin in February, with 32
million to 36 million people vaccinated by September.    
    South Korea reported 404 new coronavirus cases as of
Tuesday, bringing the country's tally to 73,518 cases, with
1,300 deaths.

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee, Sangmi Cha; Additional reporting by
Joori Roh; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Jacqueline Wong)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))