Taiwanese vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) yesterday said it has received approval from the Chinese government for it to start phase three clinical trials of its flu vaccine in China, enabling it to enter the market next year.
The company plans to launch the vaccine immediately after receiving Chinese approval in the first half of next year, company vice president Simon Kao (高聖凱) said.
The company expects to sell less than 1 million vials of vaccine in China next year, but the volume should increase to between 3 million and 5 million vials in 2016, accounting for 10 percent of the market, Kao said.
There are currently 10 companies making flu vaccines in 0.5cc vials, and nine making 0.25cc vials. Adimmune is capable of making vaccines in both sizes, Kao said.
Flu vaccine in China is priced between 10 yuan and 60 yuan (US$1.65 and US$9.85) per vial, while the average price of Adimmune’s will be between 50 yuan and 60 yuan, Kao said.
The company sells 1.5 million vials of flu vaccine in Taiwan at between NT$100 to NT$150 each, it said, adding that domestic sales of the vaccine would account for 40 percent of its revenue this year.
Thanks to the Cross-strait Cooperation Agreement on Medicine and Public Health Affairs (兩岸醫藥衛生合作協議), the company spent only three years to get the green light to start the phase three trials, shorter than five to six years for other companies, Kao said.
“We will be the first company to launch a medical product in China without building a plant there,” chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said.
Meanwhile, Chan said Adimmune’s vaccine for H7N9 avian influenza will complete phase one clinical trails by January and phase two clinical trials by June.
From January through last month, the company posted revenue of NT$273.8 million (US$9.32 million), up 18.23 percent from NT$231.57 million a year ago, as sales to its partner, Dutch-based Crucell, rose to 370g from 200g last year, chief financial officer Vic Chang (張哲瑋) said.
Sales to Crucell, which account for 60 percent of the company’s revenue this year, are expected to increase next year as the company started to provide about 75g to 100g adjuvants for curing hepatitis A, which are twice as expensive as its flu vaccine, Chang said.
Adimmune is likely to remain in the red this year, he said.
The company reported losses of NT$309.25 million in the first half of the year, compared with losses of NT$284.74 million a year ago.
Adimmune‘s shares rose 6.07 percent to NT$47.15 yesterday.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
BACK IN BLACK: Net losses improved to NT$15.5 billion from NT$60.2 billion, while gross margin returned to positive territory for the first time in four years, it said State-run utility Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it was “highly possible” the company could turn its financial situation around this year after reporting profits from May on the back of lower fuel costs. The New Taiwan dollar’s appreciation against the US dollar and higher summer electricity rates also boosted the company’s bottom line, Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said. Electricity rates are about 20 percent higher on average during the summer, while power consumption usually soars 40 percent over other seasons because of higher temperatures, Taipower data showed. Revenue rose 16 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year to
CAUTION: Right now, artificial intelligence runs on faith, not productivity and eventually, the risk of a bubble will emerge,’ TIER economist Gordon Sun said Taiwanese manufacturers turned more optimistic last month, ending a five-month streak of declining sentiment as concerns over US tariffs, currency volatility and China’s overcapacity began to ease, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said yesterday. The manufacturing business confidence index rose 1.17 points from June to 86.8, its first rebound since February. TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) attributed the uptick to fading trade uncertainties, a steadier New Taiwan dollar and reduced competitive pressure from Chinese producers. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is unlikely to face significant damage from Washington’s ongoing probe into semiconductors, given the US’ reliance on Taiwanese chips to power artificial