HumanN Highlights Application for WHO Approval of Russian COVID-19 Vaccine 'Covivac'

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Interest is growing in HumanN, which is engaged in the vaccine business, following the news that Russia's 3rd generation COVID-19 vaccine 'Covivac' has applied for World Health Organization (WHO) approval for use.

According to the financial investment industry on the 3rd, HumanN has been expanding its strategic partnership with MP Corporation (MPC) for the Covivac vaccine business. MPC is a company that holds exclusive rights for domestic contract manufacturing and ASEAN country distribution of Russia's 3rd generation COVID-19 vaccine Covivac. In March, HumanN signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MP Corporation (MPC) to promote new business related to the contract manufacturing and distribution rights of the Russian Covivac vaccine, and in April, completed an investment of 7 billion KRW in MPC.

According to reports from TASS news agency and others on the 29th, the Covivac vaccine developed by the Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides has submitted documents for WHO approval for use. Aydar Ishmukhametov, director of the institute, said in an interview on Russia 24 TV channel, "We have submitted documents for qualification review to the WHO and through the COVAX Facility program, we will be able to supply Covivac, the safest vaccine, to developing countries."

According to reports, the WHO has recently emphasized the role of the COVAX Facility program. COVAX, a joint COVID-19 vaccine procurement mechanism involving 190 countries worldwide, announced plans to purchase about 2 billion doses of vaccines, and South Korea also plans to introduce about 20 million doses (for 10 million people) through COVAX.

The Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides is a global virus vaccine research institution supplying WHO with polio and yellow fever vaccines. Experts say that Covivac is likely to be approved by the WHO. So far, the vaccines approved by WHO include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen, but due to thrombotic side effects and issues with new variant viruses, the purchase volumes have not been achieved.

In particular, unlike the virus vector vaccines (AstraZeneca, Janssen) or mRNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna) approved by WHO, Covivac is an inactivated vaccine with a new vaccine platform, featuring excellent efficacy in preventing variant viruses and safety from side effects due to its traditional vaccine manufacturing method. Since receiving general vaccination approval and phase 3 trial authorization from the Russian Ministry of Health on February 19, Covivac is currently undergoing clinical trials with about 32,000 participants using global standard clinical trial methods.