BEIJING (Reuters) – Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group will set up a joint venture with Germany’s BioNTech to produce COVID-19 vaccines in China, financial magazine Caixin reported on Wednesday.
The first phase of the China-based manufacturing facility will have a production capacity of 200 million doses, Caixin said, citing people familiar with the matter. It did not specify how long it would take to produce that many doses.
A spokesman from Fosun declined to comment on the report.
Fosun Pharma had said it aims to move from importing finished vaccine from the German firm to conducting some filling procedures on its own, using imported bulk ingredients and then eventually making vaccines from scratch, although it has not announced a specific timeline.
Fosun said earlier this month it will buy at least 100 million doses of vaccine from BioNTech for use in mainland China next year, if the vaccine receives regulatory approval in the country.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill)
