KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 14): Pharmaniaga Bhd said today it is in the midst of negotiation with the Ministry of Health (MoH) for the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd (Sinovac LS) for distribution in Malaysia.

In its response to Bursa Malaysia's query, Pharmaniaga said approval of the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) is required for manufacturing and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine in Malaysia.

"The pre-submission meeting with the NPRA has been completed and the company will be submitting the vaccine dossier to the NPRA soonest [possible]. There shall not be any clinical trials in Malaysia, and the company will rely on clinical data from China, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil for registration of the vaccine in Malaysia," it added.

On Tuesday, Pharmaniaga's wholly-owned subsidiary Pharmaniaga LifeScience Sdn Bhd (PLS) announced that it was partnering Sinovac LS for the supply of 14 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in Malaysia. Under the deal, Pharmaniaga will carry out the fill-and-finish process of the vaccine developed by Sinovac, which is one the leading vaccine developers in China.

Pharmaniaga said it had initiated negotiation for the local manufacturing agreement as well as the technology and know-how licence agreement with Sinovac LS, which are expected to be executed within one month.

“PLS has all the required expertise, know-how and resources for fill-and-finish manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccine. PLS has been doing sterile filing and manufacturing of injectable products in vials since 2010, and the facility is approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency and EU GMP (European Union Good Manufacturing Practice)-certified."

Pharmaniaga also said it had budgeted around RM3 million for refitting of the existing facility to enable manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccine.

CGS-CIMB Research has upgraded Pharmaniaga to "hold" at RM5.27, with a higher target price (TP) of RM5.41 from RM4.15 previously, as the research house raised its earnings forecasts for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) and FY22 to reflect Pharmaniaga's vaccine fill-and-finish venture contribution after sealing the agreement with Sinovac LS.

CGS-CIMB analyst Syazwan Aiman Sobri said in a note to investors today that he believes the venture could bring in significant earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) contributions — about RM25.5 million for the production of 14 million fill-and-finished doses in FY21.

“Our FY21-FY22 earnings per share (EPS) forecasts are raised by 4.2%-19.7%, mainly to factor in the vaccine fill-and-finish venture contribution,” he said.

At 3.41pm, Pharmaniaga shares were up two sen or 0.38% at RM5.29, with 1.53 million shares done. At the current price, its market capitalisation stood at RM1.38 billion. The stock had surged 156% over the past year from RM2.06.