US biotechnology company Moderna Inc, one of the two leading makers of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, on Tuesday announced that it would establish four subsidiaries in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore to support delivery of its vaccines and therapeutics.
The subsidiary in Taiwan is expected to be set up by the end of this year, Moderna told Chinese-language media, adding that it would recruit local talent and collaborate with local hospitals on clinical trials.
Moderna has signed a contract with Taiwan to offer 20 million COVID-19 vaccine and booster doses this year, and another 15 million next year, the company said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
In Taiwan, its COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for people aged 18 or older, while its booster shots can be given to those who had their second dose five months prior, it said.
Moderna provides Taiwan with its mRNA-1273 vaccine, which targets variants of SARS-CoV-2, and it is developing a next-generation vaccine that it expects to launch in the second half of this year, pending regulatory approval, Moderna senior vice president Patrick Bergstedt said in an interview with the Chinese-language United Daily News.
“This is why we set up a subsidiary in Taiwan — we hope to cooperate with local hospitals and regulators directly so that we could provide our vaccine,” United Daily News quoted Bergstedt as saying.
More studies are required to determine whether booster shots should be given once every six months or once a year, he said.
Moderna did not say whether it would consider manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine in Taiwan, but the Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday reported that the government is attempting to arrange a technology transfer for the vaccine.
To facilitate a transfer, the government plans to set up a new company in which the National Development Fund would hold a stake of less than 49 percent and the remaining shares would belong to private companies, CNA reported.
South Korea’s Samsung Biologics Co has since May last year been assigned the fill and finish manufacturing task for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines, corporate data showed.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) last year told lawmakers that the US is protective of its mRNA technology, so there would be a higher chance of Taiwan participating in the back-end manufacturing processes, such as fill and finish — the process of filling vials with vaccine and finishing the process of packaging the medicine — than in core manufacturing.
However, Taiwan would strive to transfer the technology, he said.
Asked whether Moderna’s decision to set up a branch in Taiwan could lead to the company’s vaccines being produced in Taiwan or other types of cooperation, Chen yesterday said that the ministry does not know the company’s development plans, but welcomes it to Taiwan and would not exclude the possibility of further cooperation.
Moderna said that the addition of the four subsidiaries comes as it continues to scale up the manufacturing and distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine, and future mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.
The Asia-Pacific region represents an integral part of Moderna’s business, with established subsidiaries in Australia, South Korea and Japan, it said.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
The military yesterday showed off its latest domestically produced armored vehicle, the CM-34 Clouded Leopard, at a remote manufacturing site in the nation’s central mountains. Taiwan has been eager to demonstrate its resolve to defend itself should China ever attack. Those fears have become more pronounced over the past few years as Beijing has stepped up military activities near Taiwan. While Taiwan relies on the US for many of its weapons, such as fighter jets, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been pushing for a greater emphasis on Taiwanese-designed and made armaments, the most high profile of which is new submarines. The eight-wheeled CM-34,
CANCELED TOURS: The booster shot requirement for local tour groups will hopefully be dropped, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai said Starting today, travelers can transit through the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before flying to a third country, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said this week, after the transit service had been suspended for more than one year. The airport operator resumed the service after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday further eased border control measures that were imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The center has also lifted the ban on inbound passengers being picked up by friends and relatives at the airport. On Monday afternoon, the company conducted a drill to ensure that all stakeholders at the
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin for disparaging Taiwan’s sovereignty by saying that Taiwan issues are “China’s internal affairs.” The ministry strongly condemned Putin’s “false” remarks that “undermined the sovereignty of the Republic of China,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing. Xinhua news agency cited Putin as telling Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a telephone call on Wednesday that Russia opposed any interference from external forces in China’s internal affairs, such as in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Ou said that Taiwanese elect their government in free and fair elections, adding that only the
TAIPEI INFORMED: The White House said that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan voiced concern to diplomat Yang Jiechi about Beijing’s activities in the Taiwan Strait Top US and China officials discussed Taiwan, Ukraine and other security issues in Luxembourg, in the latest sign that leaders of the world’s two largest economies are trying to keep high-level communications open despite simmering tensions. The meeting between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) on Monday “included candid, substantive and productive discussion of a number of regional and global security issues, as well as key issues in US-China relations,” the White House said in a statement, without elaborating. The meeting lasted for four-and-a-half hours, said a senior US administration official who briefed reporters afterward. The
RSS