Sinovac Biotech Receives Grant To Build HFMD Vaccine Production Facility

Chinese vaccine producer Sinovac Biotech announced last week that the company has received a $9.6 million grant from the Chinese government to develop a vaccine production facility. $3.2 million will be provided to Sinovac this year, with the rest of the funds being made available after certain benchmarks are met. The facility will focus on manufacturing enterovirus EV71 vaccines for hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD).  The facility will have a yearly capacity of 20 million EV71 doses, and the vaccine will be commercialized in China. The project was supported by the Dedicated Funds for Strategic New Emerging Industry Development initiative.

Yin Weidong, the chairman, president, and CEO of Sinovac commented on the grant and what the vaccines can do for the Chinese population. “From 2007 to 2013, over nine million cases of HFMD were reported in China with approximately 2,700 reported fatalities. This epidemic situation represents a significant unmet medical need for the EV71 vaccine,” Weidong said. “The grant provides the confidence and encouragement that EV71 vaccine is urgently needed and has attracted the attention from the Chinese government. We look forward to working with the regulatory agencies to complete the vaccine registration process as soon as possible.”

In March of 2013, Sinovac completed Phase III clinical trials for the EV71 vaccine. The trials showed that the vaccine’s efficacy rate against EV71-associated HFMD was  95 percent. The company said that throughout all three phases of clinical trials, the EV71 vaccine was proven to be safe and effective.

China accepted the company’s new drug application for the vaccine earlier in May. The application is currently being reviewed, but it is expected to be approved.

The EV71 vaccine Phase III clinical trial results were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.