The Chinese company Sinovac will double its capacity to produce 600 million doses of vaccine

The Chinese company Sinovac will double its capacity to produce 600 million doses of vaccine

Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac plans to complete the new plant to double its annual production capacity to 600 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. The company also said it had received an investment of $ 500 million to support its efforts to develop a vaccine against COVID-19. The company is currently conducting the final phase of clinical trials of a potential vaccine in Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia. Pharmaceutical conglomerate Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. bought a 15 percent stake in Sinovac for $ 500 million. This funding will allow the company to "improve our vaccine sales capacity, expand into Asian markets, develop and acquire new technologies and, above all, accelerate our efforts to combat the global pandemic," Sinovac said in a statement. The Sinovac experimental vaccine is currently approved for emergency use in China, but has yet to be finally approved. As part of emergency use, it is distributed to groups that the Chinese government considers appropriate, including front-line medical staff and border workers.