Sinovac will use the funding to further develop and expand the manufacturing capacity of its vaccine candidate CoronaVac
Sinovac secures $500m funding to develop CoronaVac. (Credit: visuals3Dde from Pixabay.)
Sinovac Life Sciences (Sinovac LS), a subsidiary of China-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, has secured around $500m to support the development of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate CoronaVac.
Previously known as Sinovac Research and Development, Sinovac LS will use the funding to further develop the vaccine and expand its manufacturing capacity, along with other development and operational activities.
Sino Biopharmaceutical, a Chinese pharmaceutical research and development conglomerate, has offered the $500m funding, in exchange for nearly 15% of the total equity interest of Sinovac LS.
Sinovac chairman, president and CEO Weidong Yin said: “We have made significant progress in the development of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate CoronaVac, which has reached critical milestones in clinical trials in Asia and Latin America.
“In addition to funding the CoronaVac, this new strategic partnership with Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited further enables us to improve our vaccine sales capabilities, expand in Asia markets, develop and access new technologies, and most importantly, accelerate our efforts to help combat the global pandemic.”
Sinovac said that before the announcement of the investment, Advantech Capital and Vivo Capital exercised their right to convert a previous loan dated 22 May 2020, into 7.5% equity interest in the company, which represents nearly 6.3% stake after the investment in Sinovac LS.
The company has secured the approval to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate CoronaVac, in Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey and Chile.
Phase 2/3 trials in China demonstrated the vaccine’s capability to induce neutralising antibodies in more than 90% of volunteers, who received two doses.
With the new investment, Sinovac intends to manufacture 300 million doses of its CoronaVac vaccine per annum.
Also, the firm is planning to complete the construction of a second production facility, which increases the annual vaccine production capacity to 600 million doses, by the end of 2020.
Houlihan Lokey served as a financial advisor and Han Kun Law Offices and Latham & Watkins as legal advisors to Sinovac for the transaction.