Ukraine's Lekhim Plans To Launch Production Of China-Produced COVID Vaccine In 2022

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th January, 2021) Ukrainian pharmaceutical company Lekhim intends to launch production of vaccines against coronavirus infection, which are now produced by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, in 2022.

In mid-December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had set a task for Health Minister Maksym Stepanov to receive the vaccine in January, or at least in February. According to Stepanov, technical documents have already been signed with COVAX for the supply of 8 million doses of the vaccine. Later, the health ministry signed a contract for the delivery of another 1.9 million doses of the vaccine against coronavirus produced by Sinovac Biotech as soon as possible.

"In March 2021, Ukraine will be able to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus produced by Sinovac Biotech, the effectiveness of which has been proven by clinical trials, and in 2022, it will be able to launch vaccine production at the Ukrainian enterprise Lekhim-Kharkiv.

Lekhim and Sinovac Biotech reached an agreement in negotiations regarding cooperation on the distribution and localization of production in Ukraine of a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, for a period of five years," the Ukrainian company said in a statement.

It is noted that in addition to the sale of the Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, the cooperation involves the organization of large-scale production of finished dosage forms of vaccines, including CoronaVac, in Ukraine from 2022, and it is planned to organize a full production cycle of the main list of vaccines from 2025.