NewsPoints Billionaire’s Bet on Pfizer Vaccine for China Fails to Pay Off

Beijing is supporting a home-grown mRNA vaccine, allowing China's Walvax Biotechnology Co. to test its own experimental vaccine as a booster, Bloomberg reported.

The development is raising new questions about whether Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine licensed for Greater China region by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. and yet to be approved in mainland China, will ever be used on the mainland.

The Chinese market could fall out of reach for international drugmakers if approvals for vaccines and medicines intended for COVID-19 are made "a political issue, rather than an economic or biological one," said Zhao Bing, a senior analyst at China Renaissance Securities.

Given the domestic competition, the prospects in China for the vaccine may be limited even if it is eventually approved for use in the mainland, he added.

Fosun Pharma said its collaboration with BioNTech "has always been supported by relevant regulatory authorities," adding that the clinical trials and approval process are progressing in accordance with China's laws.

Mia He, senior healthcare analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted that "China doesn't have an mRNA vaccine right now. When it does, it'd better be a domestic one, so that it shows the country is just as capable of pulling it off."