ExclusiveModerna seeking Hong Kong regulatory approval for Omicron-targeted Covid-19 booster vaccine
- Patrick Bergstedt, US company’s senior vice-president of commercial vaccines, says discussions with city government at advanced stage, but no green light given yet
- Company has plans to share access to its mRNA technology, set up clinical collaborations with Hong Kong universities
Moderna is seeking regulatory approval from Hong Kong authorities to offer the city’s first Omicron-targeted Covid-19 vaccine and has promised to provide at least 8 million doses to cover all residents from as early as the fourth quarter of this year.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Patrick Bergstedt, the American pharmaceutical company’s senior vice-president of commercial vaccines, said the discussions with the city’s government were at an advanced stage.
He also said it was “definitely in the plans” of the company to share access to its messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and have clinical collaborations with local universities, as it prepared to open a regional office in the city.
Bergstedt said he had been maintaining contact with Hong Kong officials for the past two years since the start of Covid-19 vaccine developments, adding “we have recently intensified the conversations … once we have had the new data available”.
The business chief, who is in Singapore on a tour of Asia, described the recent exchanges as “encouraging and positive”, but said the administration had not given any indication as to when the green light would be forthcoming.