Pharmaniaga: Many want to buy Sinovac, no ‘wahyu’ on profitability yet

 

Many state governments and even foreign entities have expressed interest in buying Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines from Pharmaniaga Berhad.

However, group managing director Zulkarnain Md Eusope has declined to disclose how much the coveted vials will be sold for or if the listed firm intends to profit from these sales.

The government-linked company is the sole product registration holder of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccines in Malaysia.

Aside from importing completed vaccines from China, it also packages them domestically through a “fill and finish” procedure.

Speaking at an online press conference today, Zulkarnain said Pharmaniaga will prioritise the federal government’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) before it sells vials to buyers.

“We have so many states who (have) requested to purchase the vaccine. We have Selangor, Sabah, Perak, Pahang and Johor. In fact, we received requests from overseas as well.

“But now, our focus is for the federal government [...] hopefully by June and July (the orders will be) completed then we will start to look into the states as well as the private sectors.

“So hopefully, we are hoping that by the third or fourth week of June, we can start delivering to the private parties,” he said.

The Sarawak government previously said it wanted to buy 500,000 Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines as well. It intends to buy another half a million doses for the second vaccination phase.

The Selangor government wants to buy 2.5 million vaccines and sell them to private employers who want to vaccinate their staff. The SelangkahVax programme is believed to be using the Sinovac vaccine.

Pharmaniaga group managing director Zulkarnain Md Eusope

‘No wahyu yet’

When asked how much Pharmaniaga intends to sell the vaccines for and if it intends to make a profit, Zulkarnain declined to disclose a price.

“We have not received any wahyu (directive) yet so when we get a directive we will know.

“And then when it comes to the vaccine, it is very confidential because we don't want to have an issue on the price,” he answered.

Pharmaniaga is owned by the Malaysian Armed Forces Pension Fund (LTAT) and its subsidiary Boustead Holdings Berhad.

LTAT is a government statutory body that manages the pensions of some armed forces members. It is parked under the Defence Ministry.

Vaccine donor requirements

Meanwhile, Zulkarnain stressed that anyone seeking to buy and donate Sinovac vaccines had to first go through Pharmaniaga.

This, he said, was to verify the authenticity of the vials.

“We have no problem with this. Like (minister) Khairy Jamaluddin always says, anyone can donate but they must follow the right process.

“We are the product registration holder. It must go back to us, then we have to go back to Sinovav and (clarify) whether this (donated) vaccine is really from Sinovac.

“We must clarify. If the product turns out to be something else who will clarify?” he remarked.

A foundation under the Petra Group previously said it wanted to donate 200,000 Sinovac vaccines to Putrajaya’s NIP but Khairy found no evidence of the purported offer.

Sabahan Yong Chee Kong offered to donate two million Sinovac doses to the Penang government but this Khairy later characterised it as a scam.

Yong claimed to have made the offer on behalf of his boss at one Xintai Enterprise Development Limited - a firm purportedly based in Hong Kong.

The police are now investigating the matter. - Mkini