BioKangtai (SHZ: 300601), a Guangdong vaccine company, in-licensed rights to develop, manufacture and market AstraZeneca's (NYSE: AZN) COVID-19 vaccine in China. The candidate is an adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine that was created by Oxford University and partnered by AstraZeneca. Financial details of the China deal were not disclosed, but BioKangtai did promise to make at least 100 million doses of the vaccine by the end of 2020 and 200 million doses per year by the end of 2021.

AstraZeneca wants to produce 2 billion doses of AZD1222 worldwide by the end of 2021. Previously, the company promised to provide 300 million doses to the US, 300 million to the EU and 100 million each to the UK and Brazil.

BioKangtai already produces a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), an influenza type b conjugate vaccine and vaccines for measles and rubella. Its attenuated vaccines include a cell-free white-breaking Haemophilus influenzae type b combined vaccine, 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and others.

In previous deals, AstraZeneca signed a manufacturing and distribution agreement with R-Pharm in Russia and tapped the Serum Institute of India to provide COVID-19 vaccines for low-income countries. South Korea’s SK Bioscience recently joined AZ’s COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing network, and Daiichi Sankyo is reported to be in discussions with the company for Japan distribution.

China is AstraZeneca's second-largest market, behind only the US, and accounts for about a fifth of the British drugmaker’s business, a larger percentage than its multinational peers.

See our other articles on BioKangtai and AstraZeneca.

Disclosure: None.