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Sinovac Wins Beijing Public Health Bureau's Bid to Supply Seasonal Flu Vaccine Anflu(R) to Beijing Citizens
Last update: 8/28/2009 8:00:00 AM
BEIJING, Aug 28, 2009 /PRNewswire-Asia via COMTEX/ -- Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that the Beijing Public Health Bureau has selected Sinovac as one of the four manufacturers to supply Anflu(R), Sinovac's seasonal influenza vaccine, for the benefit of the citizens of Beijing.
The Beijing Public Health Bureau completed the bidding process for the purchase of flu vaccines and corresponding services for 2009 on August 26, 2009. The agreement will be executed after the public notice period. In order to prevent and control infectious disease and to avoid contracting both the seasonal flu virus and the H1N1 virus, 2.8 million Beijing citizens will receive free inoculations against the seasonal influenza.
Under the Bureau's plan, people over the age of 60, as well as elementary and secondary school students, will be inoculated with the influenza vaccine at no charge. Previously, school students were inoculated with the influenza vaccine at a charge of 20 RMB per person with allowances from the Bureau.
Mr. Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and CEO of Sinovac, commented, "As part of our mission to develop vaccines to combat the spread of disease in China and around the world, we are pleased to again be among the seasonal flu suppliers to the Beijing government. We are confident of our flexibility to be able to fill large seasonal flu vaccine orders while also executing the R&D and large-scale production of our H1N1 vaccine. Our ability to produce multiple sophisticated and high-quality vaccines simultaneously is further proof that Sinovac is a leading vaccine provider."
Developed and manufactured by Sinovac, Anflu is the only split influenza vaccine produced in China without preservatives. Over the past two years, the Company has expanded its manufacturing capacity for seasonal influenza vaccine to five million doses per year, and the same production line can produce 20 million doses of pandemic influenza vaccine, using a grant from China's National Development and Reform Commission.
In other news, Sinovac recently reported top-line preliminary results of H1N1 vaccine clinical trials. The results show the H1N1 vaccine developed by Sinovac is quite safe and has a good immunogenicity profile.
Dirk