Asian Tech Press -- BioNTech SE (BNTX: NASDAQ GS), the German pharmaceutical company that produces the BNT162b2 vaccine, said it has made a delivery schedule with Taiwan and will ship the vaccine to Taiwan as soon as the procedures are completed, Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported Friday.
A BioNTech spokesperson said in an email response to a CNA reporter that the company's COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for emergency use by the relevant authorities in Taiwan on Aug. 3, and that it is now making every effort with its partner Fosun Pharma to deliver the vaccine to people in Taiwan as soon as possible.
The spokesperson stressed that it is still no certainty when the first batch of vaccines will be delivered. But, BioNTech has made an delivery schedule with the related authorities, and the vaccines will be delivered to Taiwan as soon as the quality control (QC) and safety procedures are completed.
BioNTech and its partner Fosun Pharma announced on the evening of July 11 that Hong Kong-based Fosun Industrial Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Fosun Pharma, has entered into advance procurement agreements with TSMC, Foxconn, YongLin Foundation, the charity organisation of Foxconn founder Terry Gou, respectively, and Zuellig Pharma, a Swiss-owned company, a Swiss-owned company licensed to import vaccines.
According to the agreements, Fosun Industrial will sell a total of 10 million doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 to TSMC, Foxconn and Zuellig Pharma, which will be donated by the buyers to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for local vaccination.
On July 21, Taiwanese NGO Tzu Chi Foundation said it has signed a purchase contract with Fosun Industrial for 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. All of the purchased vaccines will be donated to authorities for public vaccination.
Lo Ping-cheng, the spokesperson of the Executive Yuan, the highest administrative body of Taiwan, said at a press conference on July 21 that Tzu Chi, TSMC, and Foxconn/YongLin Foundation donated 5 million doses each, making a total of 15 million doses of BNT162b2 vaccine, which will be combined by the CDC and applied to Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) for an EUA import permit, and will also include minors aged 12-18 for use.
