The National Development Co. (NDC) is conducting due diligence on a proposal to invest in a P7.5-billion fully-integrated manufacturing facility for vaccines for the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases, agency sources said yesterday.
The NDC is being asked to contribute P150 million in seed funding for a company to be formed by proponent Filipino pharmaceutical firm Glovax Lifescience Corp.
A bilateral memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two is being finalized as a followup to a tripartite memorandum of understanding signed during the Duterte administration among Glovax Lifescience distribution arm Glovax Biotech Corp., NDC and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
According to Giovanni Alingog, Glovax Biotech founder, the company has presented its feasibility study to NDC general manager Antonio Mauricio in a meeting last November 14.
The proposal will be tackled in this week’s NDC board meeting, according to one of the NDC sources.
The same source said Glovax has made a separate presentation on the project to DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual, NDC chairman, noting government presence in this project gives a stamp of approval.
Alingog said Glovax is also in talks with other potential foreign investors such as the United States Agency for International Development, Development Finance Corp. , International Finance Corp. and IIX of Singapore for the venture.
Glovax plans to also tap technology transfer between regulatory agencies and South Korea and the US, which will be the initial source of Glovax vaccine plant technology.
Some of the vaccines to be produced are for tuberculosis, rabies, polio, influenza, pneumonia, and COVID-19.
Glovax plans to break ground on the facility in February 2023 in a site in Batangas.
Glovax intends to start off with a fill and finish facility which it hopes to start in January 2023 then go into manufacturing within two years or by 2025.
In its website, NDC said it has ongoing discussions with Department of Science and Technology, the Board of Investments and the private sector, among others, to explore potential collaborations in establishing fill and finish facilities. – Irma Isip
