After the coronavirus research race, vaccine producers face new hurdles
- Production challenges differ widely between the traditional vaccines developed in China and advanced mRNA products
- Chinese vaccines have advantage in the short-term until supply chain issues for new technology versions are resolved
Vaccines using traditional technology – like those developed in China – and the more advanced versions like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines – have very different hurdles to overcome.
Experts said established technologies that used inactivated and vectored vaccines – like those being developed by China’s CanSino and Britain’s Oxford/AstraZeneca – had a short-term advantage because raw materials would not be an issue, as long as production facilities were in place.
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Conversely, the advanced mRNA vaccines faced an initial constraint in the supply of raw materials, but could be easier to mass produce in the long term.
Wang Junzhi, deputy head of a vaccine development task force under the State Council, said in early December that China planned to have 600 million doses of inactivated Covid-19 vaccines ready for market launch before year end.
It is unclear whether Wang’s remarks reflected a three-fold revision on previous forecasts – Chinese developers Sinopharm and Sinovac have previously committed to 100 million doses each in that time frame – or if it was a slip of the tongue. Wang has been approached for clarification.
Zheng Zhongwei, head of the same task force, said in October that China’s annual production capacity – the maximum 12-month output – of all kinds of Covid-19 vaccines could reach 610 million by the end of 2020.