[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] As Russia officially approved the ‘Sputnik Light’ vaccine, which provides COVID-19 prevention effects with a single dose, attention is focusing on the Huons Global consortium that signed a contract to produce the ‘SputnikV’ vaccine domestically.
According to foreign media on the 6th (local time), the Russian sovereign wealth fund ‘Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)’ announced that the Russian Ministry of Health officially approved the COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik Light.’
According to RDIF, unlike the existing ‘SputnikV’ vaccine, this vaccine requires only one dose and has the advantage of easy storage management at 2?8 degrees Celsius. It also stated that the vaccine’s efficacy is 79.4%, and no serious side effects were observed among clinical trial participants.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video conference with Deputy Prime Minister Golikova that their country’s COVID-19 vaccine is “as reliable as the AK-47 rifle.”
Accordingly, the Huons Global consortium, which includes Huons Global, Humedix, Prestige Biopharma, and Boran Pharma, is attracting attention.
On the 16th, the Huons Global consortium announced that it signed a technology transfer agreement with RDIF for the production of the Russian SputnikV vaccine. The consortium plans to begin trial production in August after receiving vaccine production technology from the Russian side.
To this end, in November last year, Huons announced an investment of 39 billion KRW to expand new line facilities. Huons executed new facility investments to use the existing production line of 35 million units for vaccine production. It is expected that Huons’ facilities will be leased to Humedix.
Humedix also issued convertible bonds (CB) worth 45 billion KRW last month. The purpose of raising funds is for facility investment for vaccine contract manufacturing (CMO) business, acquisition of other companies, and research and development. It is analyzed as a capital investment for SputnikV vaccine production.
Prestige Biopharma’s subsidiary, Prestige Biologics, also announced last month that it will invest about 80 billion KRW for vaccine production. Additionally, Prestige Biopharma signed a contract to receive 50 units of 2000L bioreactors and other equipment from global life sciences company Cytiva to supply raw materials for SputnikV production.
A Huons Global official stated, “Although specific quantities related to the SputnikV vaccine cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements, the four companies in the consortium plan to establish facilities capable of producing over 100 million doses per month to meet RDIF’s requested quantities.”
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