by PRIYA VASU / Pic by BERNAMA

Solution Group Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd has received the first batch of 200,000 finished doses of the Convidecia vaccine from CanSino Biologics Inc and handed over the vaccines to the Ministry of Health Malaysia today.

In a statement today the company said this is the first single dose COVID-19 vaccine in Malaysia.

“There will be more finished doses and bulk active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) arriving in the coming months and we are extremely pleased to be able to help in the drive to vaccinate more people and curb the spread of the virus”, said Datuk Dr. Mohd Nazlee Bin Kamal, Deputy Group Managing Director of SGB

He added the single-dose vaccine will help to support the national vaccination programme as it is more convenient for those who live in remote areas of the country where transportation and logistics may be a problem.

SOLBIO also received 80L of the bulk API on 9 August 2021 from CanSino in an envirotainer stored between 2 and 8 degree Celcius.

The bulk API will be used for the GMP process validation. The 80 litres bulk API can produce about 450,000 doses of the Convidecia vaccine.

“We also expect to receive the Good Manufacturing Practice (“GMP”) certification from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and begin local production in our fill and finish facility by September,” he added.

SOLBIO received conditional approval for the Convidecia vaccine for emergency use from Malaysia’s Drug Control Authority in June 2021.