▲ Ugur Sahin, CEO of Bioentech


Bioentech, which jointly developed the Corona 19 vaccine with Pfizer in the United States, expected to benefit Korea and others by expanding the production of the Corona 19 vaccine to 3 billion times.



Corona 19 Baeksan 3rd booster shot needs to be hit after 9-12 months to maintain its efficacy, and it is predicted that it will supply the vaccine in China with approval from the Chinese authorities until July.



Regarding the way to stop the application of intellectual property rights of vaccines, he said, "It cannot be a solution," he said, and is considering a plan to grant special manufacturing licenses to competitive manufacturers.



On the 28th (local time), Ugur Sahin, the founder and chief executive officer of Bioentech, said at a video conference with the German Foreign Journalist Club, "At the beginning of this year, the target for the production of COVID-19 vaccines was 1.3 billion, but now 3 billion I have uploaded it," he said.



He said, "Korea and other countries will benefit from the expansion and efficiency of production at the Marburg plant, etc." "I explained.



The total amount of the purchase contracts signed by the Korean government with Pfizer is 66 million, and the amount delivered to Korea so far is 2 million.



1.75 million servings were brought in in May and 3.25 million servings in June, respectively, and 7 million servings are planned to enter Korea by the first half of the year.



CEO Sahin predicted that with regard to the 3rd vaccination against the COVID-19 mutant virus, so-called'booster shot', the efficacy will be maintained only after receiving the 3rd vaccination 9-12 months after the 2nd vaccination.



He predicted that after that, he would probably need to get a booster dose every year, or every 18 months.



He added, "The efficacy that becomes 95% after the second vaccination goes down to 91% after 6 months, and significantly decreases after 8 months," he added. "Therefore, it is necessary to increase the efficacy by 100% again."



When asked whether the Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine is effective against mutant viruses, he said, "When we tested 30 mutant viruses including the British mutant virus, almost all of them had an immune response." It was still good enough.”



CEO Sahin said, "We are still investigating whether the efficacy of the double mutant virus originated in India is still being investigated. We are confident that the virus is similar to the mutant virus that we investigated earlier and will be effective."



He predicts that China will approve the domestic use of the Pfizer-Bioentech Corona 19 vaccine by July.



CEO Sahin said, "We are in discussion with the Chinese authorities." "From July, we will be able to supply Pfizer vaccines to China."



Previously, Bioentech signed a contract with Fuxing Pharmaceutical Group of China in December of last year to supply 100 million doses of vaccine in 2021.



CEO Sahin said, "This cannot be a solution" regarding the method of stopping the application of intellectual property rights for the COVID-19 vaccine. This is because it is important to maintain the quality of the vaccine supplied to each region of the world. Explained.



He added, "We are discussing to create production facilities in Asia, South America and Africa to expand the supply of vaccines around the world. We are also considering granting special manufacturing licenses to competitive manufacturers through specific organizations."



However, Sahin explained that these measures will have to be done as soon as possible by the end of next year to be helpful.



"It is important that the COVID-19 vaccine produced within the European Union can be exported to other regions," he said. "Europe will be able to form mass immunity in July and at the latest in August." 



(Photo = AFP, Yonhap News)