“Through cooperation with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, we have gained opportunities for vaccine exports and research and development (R&D).”
At a seminar hosted by the Open Philanthropy Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 5th, Baek Young-ok, CEO of Eubiologics, cited collaboration with the private international health organization GAVI as the background for overcoming numerous crises since its establishment. In just 13 years since its establishment, Eubiologics has become the world’s only cholera vaccine production company. All cholera vaccines supplied worldwide are produced by Eubiologics.
Attendees on the day unanimously agreed that Korean companies have achieved mutual growth by joining hands with GAVI, the world’s largest vaccine purchasing organization. The event was held in conjunction with the visit to Korea of Sania Nishtar, CEO of GAVI, which procures about half of the world’s children’s vaccines.
The global underdeveloped country vaccine support project is led by GAVI. GAVI conducts large-scale bidding, purchases vaccines from individual companies at low prices, and distributes them to underdeveloped countries. The cost is supported by developed countries, etc. In this way, the essential vaccination rate for children around the world was raised from 40% when it was established in 2000 to 80%.
Korea has recognized the importance of official development assistance (ODA) in the vaccine sector early on. In 2010, it became the first Asian donor to GAVI. CEO Nishtar praised Korea as “a ‘hero’ in the global vaccine supply sector and a key partner of GAVI.” He chose Korea as his first destination on his first trip to Asia after taking office in January of this year.
GAVI is buying a lot of vaccines from Korea. The vaccines that GAVI purchases from three Korean companies, Eubiologics, LG Chem, and SK Bioscience, are worth about $100 million (about 133 billion won) per year. Korea is GAVI’s fourth-largest supplier, and 11% (about 88 million doses) of the vaccines that GAVI purchased last year were from Korea.
Eubiologics, which has worked closely with GAVI since its inception, is a representative example of the relationship between Korea and GAVI. Eubiologics received cholera vaccine technology transfer from the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in 2010. After that, it suffered from financial difficulties, but in 2013, it overcame the crisis by attracting its first investment with the support of the Gates Foundation, which collaborates with GAVI. In 2017, it surpassed its competitors by releasing an improved cholera vaccine that was 90% lighter and 30% smaller than the existing product.
GAVI is also expanding its scope of cooperation with Korean companies. SD Biosensor, famous for its COVID-19 self-diagnosis kit, has begun developing diagnostic technologies for malaria, tuberculosis, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which are in high demand in underdeveloped countries. Hyo-geun Lee, CEO of SD Biosensor, said, “We are developing diagnostic technologies to quickly respond to future pandemics through collaboration with GAVI’s partners, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation.”
GAVI is about to launch its sixth five-year programme, from 2026 to 2030. The goal is to vaccinate 500 million children over five years and prevent more than 8 million preventable deaths. It will also focus on strengthening countries’ health systems to respond to future pandemics.
CEO Nishtar said, “Korea is a model case of growing from an aid-receiving country to an aid-giving country,” and added, “Multilateral aid through international organizations, rather than one-on-one aid with specific countries, may be unfamiliar, but it has the advantage of providing larger-scale opportunities to individual companies. I think Korea’s ODA is headed in the right direction,” and asked for interest from the private sector and the government as a whole. Currently, Korea is GAVI’s 11th largest donor country.
Reporter Lee Ji-yoon [email protected]
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2024-09-05 16:32:31