Sinovac and LG Life Sciences signed a letter of intent on May 12, 2005 to collaborate on their international and China sector marketing efforts and vaccine supply.
“Signing this agreement is the beginning of Sinovac’s international cooperation with vaccine suppliers,” said Yin Weidong, CEO of Sinovac. “This agreement fits very well with our overall business strategy, once we successfully register Euvax, we will have another sales revenue generator for Sinovac.”
LG Life Sciences’ Euvax B is a second-generation vaccine for hepatitis B. In 1996, the product was the first in its class from Korea to be certified compliant to World Health Organization (WHO) standards for pharmaceutical production and quality control.
The vaccine is now being distributed to developing countries through Sanofi-Aventis’ vaccines business Sanofi Pasteur, as well as Unicef and the Pan America Health Organization.
Based on previous studies, Sinovac believes the vaccine will compare favorably to vaccines in China.
“This market is important to us and we are confident in Sinovac’s registration and vaccine distribution capability in China,” added Dr In-Chull Kim, president and CEO of LG Life Sciences.