Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗), the manufacturer of the only domestically-made COVID-19 vaccine that has received emergency use authorization in Taiwan, yesterday announced its out-licensing agreement with the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) hosted by WHO and the UN-backed Medicine Patent Pool (MPP), which would make the vaccine technology available worldwide to people in need.
Through C-TAP initiative, Medigen will share its COVID-19 vaccine, technology and training in a license that is global, transparent and non-exclusive to manufacturers worldwide, the company said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration
Medigen CEO Charles Chen (陳燦堅) said the company aims to provide equitable access to its vaccine technology to ensure that no one is left behind in the battle against COVID-19.
"This is not just about COVID-19, it’s about setting up a precedent for future global health challenges. By demonstrating our commitment to open science and cooperative strategies, we hope to inspire other organizations to follow suit," Chen said.
This is the first time that a vaccine manufacturer will use C-TAP to offer its patent and know-how for a COVID-19 vaccine, the WHO said in a separate statement. Medigen's COVID-19 vaccine has been used in more than 3 million administrations across seven countries, it said.
In addition to Medigen, the WHO said that C-TAP has also entered into partnership with the Spanish National Research Council and the University of Chile to transfer know-how, materials and clinical data on COVID-19 technology.
C-TAP was launched in 2020 by the WHO director-general and the president of Costa Rica with the goal of facilitating timely and affordable access to COVID-19 health products, according to the WHO, which added that it is supported by 45 member states.
Based in Hsinchu County, Medigen is a biopharmaceutical company that uses cell-based technologies for the development of vaccines and biosimilars. It developed and manufactured the first SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in the country with emergency use approval granted in 2021.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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