Shanghai Fosun Pharma formed a JV with its COVID-19 partner BioNTech to manufacture their partnered mRNA vaccine in China. The JV will have capacity to manufacture 1 billion doses of the vaccine. Fosun will invest $100 million to build the facility for its 50% share of the JV, while BioNTech will contribute its proprietary manufacturing technology, which it values at $100 million. In March 2020, the two companies partnered China development of the COVID-19 vaccine in a $135 million deal. Fosun invested $50 million in BioNTech stock and agreed to pay up to $85 million in milestones.

After the Fosun deal, BioNTech partnered ex-China development rights for the vaccine with Pfizer.  

So far, China has not approved the vaccine, which remains in a China Phase II bridging trial. Assuming positive data from that trial, the results will be combined with data from the many global clinical trials of the vaccine for China approval.

At the outset of the BioNTech-Fosun deal, BioNTech agreed to provide Fosun with clinical supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine and later said it would deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine for greater China use. The Fosun-BioNTech JV will increase that amount to one billion doses per year. If BioNTech develops additional mRNA vaccines, they could also be produced in the JV's facility, though that will be subject to additional negotiation.

Pfizer says it has distributed about 430 million doses of the vaccine to countries around the globe. The Fosun-BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine has the potential to be the first foreign COVID-19 vaccine and the first mRNA vaccine approved in China,

Three China vaccine makers -- Sinopharm, Sinovac and Tianjin’s CanSino -- have launched COVID-19 vaccines in China. They have administered 324 million doses of the vaccines, which is only about one-fourth of the population.

The Fosun-BioNTech JV was set to have a 15-year life.

See our other articles on Fosun and BioNTech.

Disclosure: none.