Chinese vaccines firm Sinovac won a $1.8 million initial contract to supply the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Beijing CDC) with some 375,000 doses of its seasonal influenza vaccine Anflu®. The firm separately announced regulatory clearance of the vaccine by the Hong Kong Department of Health, and said it is evaluating marketing and distribution options for the Hong Kong market.
The contract with the Beijing CDC means Sinovac will be the priority supplier of seasonal flu vaccine this year in China. Another four flu vaccine manufacturers have also won contracts for supplying the country with seasonal flu vaccines. The firm says the actual amount of vaccine supplied will depend on demand in Beijing.
Sinovac’s marketed vaccines include Anflu, Healive (hepatitis A), Bilive (hepatitis A and B), Panflu (pandemic H5N1 flu), and Panflu.1 (Pandemic H1N1). Earlier this year Sinovac was selected by the Beijing CDC to supply its Healive vaccine to the Beijing Expanded Program of Immunization, which aims to broaden hepatitis A vaccination to encompass newborns by the end of 2010.
Sinovac’s development pipeline includes vaccines against Enterovirus 71 (hand, foot, and mouth disease), a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Haemophilus influenza type B vaccine, and bacterial meningitis vaccine, along with candidates targeting Japanese encephalitis and severe acute respiratory syndrome.