Thailand’s Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) has established a cooperation with a South Korean biotech company to improve the manufacturing of influenza vaccines in the country.
The GPO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea’s biopharmaceutical firm SK Bioscience on the development of a new technology for the production of influenza vaccine, using a cell-based technique. This cooperation is to replace the traditional manufacturing method of inactivated influenza vaccine using eggs with the cell-based technique, also called cell culture, where flu viruses are grown in cultured cells instead of chicken eggs.
Dr. Mingkwan Suphannaphong, Managing Director at the GPO, said this cooperation will see SK Bioscience transfer its technology on the bottling process for future vaccines to the GPO. The South Korean company is a manufacturer of pre-filled and ready-to-use influenza vaccines, covering 3 or 4 strains of the virus.
The second phase of this technological transfer will cover all aspects of manufacturing, allowing the GPO to be able to produce flu shots using this new technique on its own.
The GPO is expected to introduce this new product in Thailand next year, with the product fully manufactured domestically to be introduced in 2 years. The GPO and SK Bioscience also have plans to co-develop several new vaccines, including the PPV vaccine and vaccines against shingles. (NNT)
