Mfg News: Sanofi, SK Bioscience & More 

A roundup of manufacturing news from Sanofi, Lifera, Arabio and SK bioscience. Highlights below. 

* Sanofi Signs Memorandum of Understanding for Vaccine Mfg in Saudi Arabia 
* SK Bioscience, Thailand Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Localized Vaccine Mfg    


Sanofi Signs Memorandum of Understanding for Vaccine Mfg in Saudi Arabia   
Sanofi, Lifera, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based bio/pharmaceutical company, and Arabio, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based bio/pharmaceutical company, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen local manufacturing of vaccines in Saudi Arabia.  

Under the MOU, Lifera, Sanofi and Arabio will help advance Saudi Arabia’s vaccines localization strategy through a range of proposed initiatives that include Lifera being a contract manufacturer to Sanofi, as well as leveraging Arabio and the Tamer Group’s, a Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based healthcare group, local and regional distribution capabilities in vaccines and other pharmaceutical products. 

Source: Lifera 


SK Bioscience, Thailand Sign Memorandum of Understanding for Localized Vaccine Mfg   
SK bioscience, a Seongnam, South Korea-based vaccines company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), a state pharmaceutical enterprise in Thailand, to strengthen Thailand’s vaccine infrastructure. 

The purpose of the MOU is to strengthen the responding system against new pandemics and localize Thailand’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities, which will extend to the broader Southeast Asia. The GPO is a state-owned pharmaceutical company that supplies medicines and vaccines in Thailand. 

As a first step of the MOU, SK bioscience and the GPO plan to sign an agreement that transfers drug-product manufacturing technology of cell-culture-based influenza vaccines developed by SK bioscience for local manufacturing at the plant owned by the GPO. Once the technology transfer is completed, the GPO will receive drug substance of the influenza vaccine from SK bioscience and plans to obtain a marketing authorization from regulatory health agencies. Both organizations expect that the influenza vaccine manufactured by the GPO will be utilized for the Thailand´s national immunization program. 

In the long term, SK bioscience plans to transfer its manufacturing capability and expand supplying self-developed vaccines in other Southeast Asian countries. SK bioscience says it will collaborate with the GPO elsewhere in Southeast Asia. 

Source: SK bioscience