Asia Tech Wire (June 5) -- Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd. plans to invest $100 million in Brazil starting this year.

Geraldo Alckmin, Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of the Federative Republic of Brazil, met with Weidong Yin, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sinovac, in Beijing on Tuesday.

Yin said Sinovac plans to invest $100 million in Brazil starting this year.

The company will work with Brazilian partners and leading scientists to develop extensive and in-depth cooperation not only in the field of vaccines, but also in a number of cutting-edge biomedical fields such as cell therapy and monoclonal antibody therapy.

Founded in 2001, Sinovac launched CoronaVac, one of the first COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in China, following an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in late 2019.

In January this year, the COVID-19 vaccine supplier confirmed the discontinuation of CoronaVac.