Pharmally International Holding Co Ltd (康友製藥), a maker of large volume parenteral solutions for vaccines and intravenous medicines, yesterday said it is upbeat on earnings as its partnership with a Chinese state-run firm makes headway into Indonesia’s avian influenza vaccine market.
It said it has formed a partnership to oversee international distribution of avian flu vaccines developed by Harbin Weike BioTechnology Development Co (維科), a subsidiary formed with the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, an arm of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The partnership has selected Indonesia as its first market, with plans to expand into the Philippines and other ASEAN states, as well as into the market for swine influenza vaccines, Pharmally said.
“Indonesia in 2013 banned all vaccine imports and poultry farmers have resorted to paying smugglers to get much-needed supplies of advanced vaccines that are not available locally,” Pharmally chairman and general manager Tony Huang (黃文烈) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
To overcome the import ban, Pharmally has set up PT Biotis Prima Agrisindo (帝斯生技), an Indonesian subsidiary, to produce Harbin Weike’s advanced avian flu vaccines, Huang said, adding that Pharmally owns 70 percent of the unit.
The Indonesian subsidiary, which was given the green light to commercialize ND LaSota, its new avian flu vaccine, is expected to start mass production in the final quarter of this year, Huang said.
Weike’s vaccines already enjoy strong brand recognition in the country, he added.
“We expect to take 50 percent of Indonesia’s avian flu vaccine market in about two years,” Huang said, adding that the deal could generate NT$4 billion (US$133.65 million) in annual sales.
The partnership is the result of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which calls on local governments and state agencies to cut red tape and remove export restrictions to promote overseas expansions, he said.
The company has plans to publicly list PT Biotis Prima Agrisindo in Taiwan in 2020, Huang added.
Pharmally’s net income in the first quarter grew 8.09 percent annually to NT$223.91 million, or earnings per share of NT$2.94, with sales growing 24.98 percent to NT$1.12 billion.
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