VIETNAM – 2 August 2021 – Supported by the Vietnamese Government and Health Ministry, Vingroup (HOSE: VIC) and Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ARCT) announced a contract regarding a collaboration to establish a manufacturing facility in Vietnam for the manufacture of Arcturus’ mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate for sales and use in Vietnam. With a planned capacity of up to 200 million doses per year, Vingroup is expected to produce its first batches of the COVID-19 vaccine in early 2022.
Arcturus Therapeutics is a leading clinical stage company focused on messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines – one of the most advanced medicinal technologies in the world. Under the terms of the arrangement, VinBioCare – a member of Vingroup – will, with consultation from Arcturus, build out a manufacturing facility in Vietnam; and Arcturus will provide to VinBioCare access to proprietary technologies and processes for the final drug product manufacturing of Arcturus’ investigational COVID-19 vaccine. Arcturus will provide VinBioCare with an exclusive license to manufacture the vaccine at the Vietnam facility solely for sales and use in Vietnam.
VinBioCare’s vaccine factory is located inside VinSmart’s electronic equipment complex in Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park (Thach That District, Hanoi), with a total estimated investment of 200 million USD and capacity of 200 million doses per year.
Currently, VinBioCare has already signed equipment procurement contracts for this factory. As planned, all equipment will be transported to Vietnam via special flights to ensure timely arrivals in September 2021. So far, construction has also completed while the installation of equipment is expected to be finalized in November 2021.
To ensure the highest production standards, VinBioCare has cooperated with Rieckermann (Germany) – one of the leading machinery & industrial solution providers in the pharmaceuticals industry – to promptly carry out the construction of the 8,807m2 factory following GMP requirements.
“In response to the Vietnamese Government’s guideline on COVID-19 vaccine supply for Vietnam in the time of limited source of supply and outbreaks, Vingroup has proactively looked for prestigious international partners for cooperation and conducted procurement and construction of the vaccine factory as quickly as possible.” – said Vingroup’s Vice Chairwoman Le Thi Thu Thuy. “Vingroup really expects to make a modest contribution to the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam and the world, so that all people can live a normal life again.”
Arcturus investigational COVID-19 vaccines utilizes Arcturus’ lipid-mediated delivery system called LUNAR® delivery system, and Arcturus’ self-amplifying mRNA technology, known as STARR™. This self-amplifying technology is designed to promote a prolonged immune response using a lower dose compared to conventional mRNA vaccines. mRNA vaccine technology enables rapid modification of the antigen that could help to accelerate the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Notably, the vaccine candidate, called VBC-COV19-154 domestically, can be made in a lyophilized powder form which is favorable for packaging, storage, transport, distribution and supply.
As planned, VinBioCare will coordinate with the Vietnamese Health Ministry’s Administration of Science Technology & Training to carry out Phase 1/2/3 clinical trials of VBC-COV19-154 vaccine on 20,000 people in August 2021.
In December 2021, VinBioCare plan to complete and submit procedures to the Health Ministry to ask for approval for VBC-COV19-154 vaccine for emergency use in Vietnam.
Once produced domestically, VBC-COV19-154 is expected to be cheaper than products of similar segment in the market. Notably, VinBioCare will provide COVID-19 vaccine at break-even price excluding investment costs in Vietnam during the time of pandemic.
About Arcturus
Founded in 2013 and based in San Diego, California, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ARCT) is a clinical-stage mRNA medicines and vaccines company with enabling technologies: (i) LUNAR® lipid-mediated delivery, (ii) STARR™ mRNA Technology and (iii) mRNA drug substance along with drug product manufacturing expertise. Arcturus’ diverse pipeline of RNA therapeutic and vaccine candidates includes mRNA vaccine programs for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and Influenza, and other programs to potentially treat Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency, and Cystic Fibrosis along with partnered programs including Glycogen Storage Disease Type 3, Hepatitis B Virus, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Arcturus’ versatile RNA therapeutics platforms can be applied toward multiple types of nucleic acid medicines including messenger RNA, small interfering RNA, replicon RNA, antisense RNA, microRNA, DNA, and gene editing therapeutics. Arcturus’ technologies are covered by its extensive patent portfolio (222 patents and patent applications, issued in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China and other countries). Arcturus’ commitment to the development of novel RNA therapeutics has led to collaborations with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, CureVac AG, Synthetic Genomics Inc., Duke-NUS Medical School, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
About Vingroup and VinBioCare
As the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam and one of the largest in Asia, Vingroup is currently doing business in three core sectors namely technology, industry and services. In all sectors it has participated in, Vingroup is always a pioneer that leads market trends and creates world-class products and services of Vietnam.
VinBioCare Biotechnology JSC (a member company of Vingroup) is a Vietnamese business working on vaccine and biological products. VinBioCare’s major resources are transferred from Viet A Corporation – a specialist in biotechnology with substantial market shares in Vietnam. The corporation was also Vietnam’s first producer of real-time PCR test kit for SARS-CoV-2 and is currently the supplier to about 90% of health care centers throughout the country.
