Canada and U.S. company Novavax reach agreement to produce new coronavirus vaccine in Canada
Due to the tight global supply of new crown virus vaccines and protectionist measures in various countries, in order to ensure a safe vaccine supply, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau announced that the Canadian government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US vaccine manufacturer Novavax, which will be the National Research Institute of Canada (NRC) The Biologics Center in Montreal was completed in July this year and approved by the Ministry of Health. Novavax Covid-19 vaccine will be produced at the center, with a monthly production capacity of about 2 million doses.
However, the agreement between Canada and Novavax cannot immediately solve the pressure of Canadian vaccine demand. Novavax must first obtain vaccine approval from the Canadian Ministry of Health, and the National Research Institute of Canada must also be completed at the Montreal New Biologics Center, and the center also Vaccines can only be produced after being reviewed and certified by the Ministry of Health.
The clinical test data released by Novavax shows that the vaccine has an effective rate of 89.3%, which is slightly lower than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently used in Canada, but it is also effective against the variants of the new coronavirus found in the UK. It is more effective than vaccines developed by other pharmaceutical companies.
It is understood that in the summer of 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that he would spend 125 million Canadian dollars to upgrade the facilities of the National Institute of Canada to produce domestic vaccines. The facility was originally expected to produce 100,000 doses of vaccines per month starting November last year. However, the facility was suspended because it failed to comply with Canadian Good Manufacturing Practices. In addition, the facility was originally scheduled to co-develop a vaccine with the Chinese company CanSino, but Chinese officials suspended the cooperation plan before the clinical trial.
Canadian media CTV reported that the NRC facility is still under construction and will not be completed until July at the earliest. The Canadian federal government agreed with Novavax to purchase vaccines in August last year, and recently increased the number of purchases to at least 52 million doses.
In fact, Canada used to have a strong domestic vaccine industry. According to data from the Canadian Federal Government, only one-fifth of Canadian drug demand (including vaccines and therapeutic drugs) in 1973 came from imports, and the vast majority were produced domestically. But as the industry began to decline in the 1980s, many multinational companies closed their Canadian operations, including AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers, and Johnson and Johnson. Today, 85% of Canadian vaccines and other medicines rely on imports. (Source: International Trade Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs)
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