State-owned enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine has confirmed to the Lekhim company its readiness to accept the supply of vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19) manufactured by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. under a procurement agreement for the national budget’s funds.
The Health Ministry of Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine, Lekhim provided the state-owned enterprise with all the necessary documents that are required when informing about the shipment of products.
Among these documents, in particular, an invoice, a certificate of quality (analysis) of a series of products, a marketing authorization, a certificate of origin from the manufacturer, information on WHO retraining and/or a marketing authorization from a competent authority of one of the designated countries, a packing list and a document confirming adherence to the cold chain and others.
Medical Procurement of Ukraine says that the documents were handed over by the supplier on Tuesday.
“Having processed the documents sent by the supplier company yesterday, the Ministry of Health confirmed to the counterparty its readiness to accept the batch of products specified in the supplier’s documents in the amount of 200,000 bottles/syringes,” the Health Ministry said.
At the same time, the state-owned enterprise says that “the implementation of this delivery does not release the supplier from the obligation to pay a penalty and fine.”
According to the Health Ministry, a penalty for each day of delay will be charged starting March 6, 2021.
The United States Agency for International Development USAID will provide Ukraine with special refrigerators necessary for transporting and storing the Pfizer vaccine, the press service of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said.
“To support Ukraine’s national response, USAID is helping prepare for Pfizer and other approved vaccines by providing direct support for ultra-cold chain storage/transportation and supporting public communications efforts to provide accurate information about vaccines,” the message reads.
As reported, Ukraine signed an agreement with the American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer for the supply of 10 million doses of vaccine against COVID-19, which was agreed in February by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and chief executive officer of Pfizer Albert Bourla.
The second batch of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine from the Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech is expected in the coming weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
He said that the signed contract provides for the receipt of almost 2 million doses, according to the presidential press service.
“In addition to China, the Sinovac vaccine is already used by 18 countries of the world. In particular, Turkey, where President Erdogan and Patriarch Bartholomew were vaccinated with it,” Zelensky said.
As reported, on Thursday evening, March 25, the first batch of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac, produced by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, in amount of 215,000 doses, arrived at Boryspil International Airport.
The independent laboratory Invitro will conduct research on the effectiveness of the vaccine CoviShield/AstraZeneca, a press release of the company says.
Head of the laboratory’s clinical diagnostic complex Pavlo Naboka said that the study will consist in checking the amount of antibodies that were produced after vaccination.
“According to the official instructions, the principle of action of the CoviShield vaccine is based on the development of specific immunity to the S-protein (spike) of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (the causative agent of COVID-19). The presence of a sufficient amount of antibodies to this protein is a factor that protects a person from the development of the disease even in case of infection. It is possible to check how many antibodies have developed in the body after vaccination by using a new laboratory test by the world famous manufacturer Abbott Diagnostics to quantify the level of neutralizing (protective) antibo
During the entire COVID-19 vaccination process, blood samples will be taken from laboratory staff to monitor immune levels, he said. That is, the laboratory will assess how many antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 will appear in a person after the first and second vaccinations, at what rate of antibodies will be produced, whether the actual concentration of antibodies will correspond to the data reported by the vaccine manufacturer.
According to the instructions, a sufficient level of antibodies should be formed within 90 days after the first administration of the vaccine. That is, the laboratory Invitro will be able to announce the results of the study in the summer of 2021.
AstraZeneca, COVISHIELD, EFFECTIVENESS, INDEPENDENT LABORATORY, VACCINE
The delivery of a next batch of AstraZeneca (CoviShield) vaccine to Ukraine may be postponed for a certain period due to the active information campaign that was launched against the Indian vaccine in our country, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Public Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance Mykhailo Radutsky (the Servant of the People faction) said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received a letter from the Indian Embassy, which emphasizes the inadmissibility of defamatory statements about India as a manufacturer of medicines and the AstraZeneca [CoviShield] vaccine supplied to Ukraine,” Radutsky wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
He said that, as noted by the Indian side, the AstraZeneca vaccine (CoviShield) is an absolutely safe and effective drug, which has been confirmed by the World Health Organization.
“Only in Europe and India, about 50 million doses of this vaccine have already been used. Significant volumes of the drug have been contracted by countries such as Canada, Great Britain, Brazil and others,” the MP said.
He said that Ukraine has contracted 1.5 million doses of vaccine produced in India, but for the manufacturer “it is not a problem to transfer this batch to other customers”, since the demand for vaccines in the world significantly exceeds the production capacity.
“According to my information, President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed Ministers Maksym Stepanov and Dmytro Kuleba to find additional ways to speed up the delivery of the next batch of CoviShield vaccine to Ukraine. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine should do everything necessary as soon as possible to convince Indian partners that the state and Ukrainian society are not involved in discrediting the vaccine supplier,” Radutsky said.
He said that both odious pro-Russian politicians and pseudo-patriotic political leaders who are doing everything to return to power, amid the destabilization of the country, worked to disrupt cooperation with India.
“We all remember the shameful statement of one of these figures, which he made during a meeting of the conciliation council of the Verkhovna Rada. It was a deliberate cynical game to disrupt the supply of vaccines and block the vaccination campaign. This man doomed thousands of Ukrainians to death in order to satisfy his own political ambitions,” the MP said.
As previously reported, the first batch of 500,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca (CoviShield) vaccine was delivered to Ukraine on the morning of February 23
The pharmaceutical group of companies Yuria-Pharm is considering the possibility of localizing vaccine production in Ukraine.
Director General of Yuria-Pharm pharmaceutical corporation Dmytro Derkach told Interfax-Ukraine that the company is actively working on the issue of providing the Ukrainian population with vaccines, including the vaccine against COVID-19.
“Five years ago, construction began on a new plant in Cherkasy with a total area of more than 25,000 square meters, which provides for high-tech aseptic production and production of biotechnological products. The workshops of the new production site have been launched starting in 2020,” he said.
According to Derkach, the construction of the new facility became possible “thanks to the principle that the company has adhered to since its inception: to reinvest over 80% of profits in new directions, which is more than $25 million per year, and also thanks to a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD ) obtained in 2020.
He said that a prerequisite for the development of the production of biotechnological products was the developments of its own Biotech R&D, in particular, a technological platform for the development and pilot production of recombinant protein products, monoclonal antibodies. In addition, a hardware and methodological base was established to ensure quality control of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, both of our own production and solutions of contract partners.
Yuria-Pharm is also testing its own platform for the development of RNA-based drugs as an effective, modern, safe and fast drug development method, which, in particular, has been used by companies that have become pioneers in the development of an RNA vaccine against COVID-19.
“We are now actively working on the issue of finding partners for the transfer of technology for the production of vaccines from COVID-19 to our new production site. We have selected a pool of companies for this, including from the United States and China, whose development is in the late stages, in particular in the third phase of clinical trials. We are negotiating with them to select a potential candidate for technology transfer and provide them with our production facilities,” Derkach said.
The director general of the group clarified: “We are not developing our own vaccine, since at present there are more than 130 companies in the world at various stages of developing a vaccine against COVID-19, so we are looking for a candidate among them.”
But at the same time, he believes that the pharmaceutical industry of Ukraine should be potentially ready for the transfer and industrial production of vaccines, the development of which will eventually be offered by domestic research institutes.
The group of companies Yuria-Pharm is included in the list of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine. The main areas of activity are the development (R&D,) production, marketing and distribution of drugs and medical products.
Yuria-Pharm LLC is a member of the Association of Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU).
