Solution Group to complete supply of 3.5m doses of CanSino vaccine to Health Ministry by November

PETALING JAYA: Solution Group Bhd (SGB) is expected to complete its supply of 3.5 million doses of CanSino Biologics Inc’s single-dose Convidecia Covid-19 vaccine to the Health Ministry (MOH) by November.

“A total of 300,000 doses were handed to the MOH last month, while 2.6 million doses will be delivered by end October, with the entire supply of 3.5 million doses to be completed by November,” said SGB deputy group managing director Datuk Dr Mohd Nazlee Kamal in a statement today.

SGB’s wholly owned subsidiary, Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd, cited data from a recent Chinese clinical study that taking a booster shot with CanSino’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine after receiving a two-dose inactivated vaccine is proven to be safe and able to effectively produce an immune response to the Covid-19 virus.

The study by Jiangsu Center of Disease Control published by MedRxiv before a peer review revealed that the Convidecia booster shot demonstrated an increase of at least 78-fold in average neutralising antibody levels, in comparison with a booster shot with the same inactivated vaccine showing 15.2-fold increase in antibody levels.

The base for the study came from a randomised, controlled, observer-blinded trial of 300 participants aged between 18 and 59 years old who received one dose of Sinovac Biotech Ltd’s CoronaVac in the past one to three months or two doses in the past three to six months. The study then compared Sinovac’s CoronaVac with CanSino’s Convidecia as a booster shot for safety and immune response.

Mohd Nazlee said the new data showed that a booster dose of CanSino’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine can help increase antibody responses among the study participants who had previously received one or two doses of inactivated vaccine.

“We hope that with the results of the study, the government will consider including CanSino’s Convidecia vaccine as part of the booster dose programme. We have the infrastructure through our fill and finish facility and the capacity ready to take on the rise in demand. We can provide the booster shots for Malaysia and at the same time, supply to the Asean region.

Malaysia is considering booster shots to enhance the immune system against the virus beginning early October.