Sinovac forms joint venture to expand vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities
Sinovac Biotech has formed a joint venture with Dalian Jin Gang Group to research and manufacture vaccines.
Sinovac Biotech has formed a joint venture with Dalian Jin Gang Group to research and manufacture vaccines.
The Chinese biopharmaceutical company, based in Beijing, will pay RMB60m (US$8.8m) for a 30% stake and Dalian will make an asset contribution, including manufacturing facilities, production lines and land use rights, valued at RMB140m (US$22.5m). Sinovac will increase its share to 55% in exchange for a cash contribution of RMB50m (US$7.5m) by the end of 2010.
The joint venture, called Sinovac (Dalian) Vaccine Technology Co, will benefit from Dalian's relatively low operating costs and its existing facilities in setting up manufacturing processes for live attenuated vaccines and vero cell cultured vaccines for rabies, mumps, varicella and rubella, said Weidong Yin, ceo of Sinovac.
The venture will also enable Sinovac to expand its manufacturing capacity, diversify its production capabilities and increase its operational scale.
Sinovac management will run the day-to-day operation of the joint venture, holding the key positions of chairman, general manager, head of r&d and financial director.
Sinovac (Dalian) will be headquartered in Dalian, Liaoning Province and will occupy a total area of approximately 93m2. The facility currently contains two vaccine production lines - one for the vero cell cultured vaccines and one for live attenuated vaccines - and has the capacity to house approximately six different production lines. The headquarters also includes quality assurance and quality control facilities, a research laboratory, office building and warehouse.
The Dalian-based facility has an annual manufacturing capacity of 20 million doses of vero cell cultured vaccines and 20 million doses of live attenuated vaccines.