A doctor displays a vial of Weuphoria, a 13-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine, at a medical service center in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in June. [Photo by Tan Qingju/For China Daily]

In a first for Chinese drug-makers, Walvax Biotechnology Co Ltd has produced a vaccine branded Weuphoria that protects little children and infants from a variety of diseases like pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, otitis media and sinusitis.

Since 2016, Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical giant, has been the sole maker and seller of this vaccine in China.

This led to a huge demand-supply gap in the domestic market. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened awareness of the importance of vaccines among young parents, increasing demand, and sales prospects, for homemade vaccines.

And domestic drug-makers such as Walvax are gearing up to ride the potential multibillion-dollar vaccines market in China, industry observers said.

Weuphoria is already making waves at the community level in urban areas. Wang (who declined to share her first name), mother of a 6-month-old, is among the first parents in Beijing to have their children get a shot of it earlier this month.

China's first self-developed 13-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine, Weuphoria is expected to protect children from contracting diseases caused by 13 types of pneumococcus, a bacterium associated with some forms of meningitis and pneumonia.

Wang is a resident of the Malianwa community in Beijing where young parents have been having heated discussions about getting their children vaccinated. "The COVID-19 may make the public more sensitive to pneumonia," she said.

Wang's neighbor Zhao (who shared only her surname) said she has been seeking 13-valent pneumonia vaccine for years. "I learned only one company produces such a vaccine. I called local health center several times, but all in vain." The COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year made her more anxious.

After a local doctor told her about Weuphoria, she made an appointment immediately.

Over 800,000 children under 5 succumb to pneumonia every year worldwide, according to UNICEF data.

Diseases caused by pneumococcus may leave serious sequela-an outcome or condition that follows from an illness or disease-such as hearing loss, discordance of limbs and abnormal behavior, said Gao Junhong, an official at the Malianwa health service center.

Gao recommended children be vaccinated as early as possible because "babies are more susceptible to it".

Earlier this month, two residential communities in Beijing, including Malianwa, began offering Weuphoria. Walvax's product is only the second such vaccine in the world, the first one being Pfizer's, whose sales reached $5.8 billion in 2018.

The amount of Pfizer's vaccine used in China grew from 715,400 vials in 2017 to 38.48 million vials in 2018 and 47.55 million vials in 2019, according to Pfizer data.

Yet, demand outstrips supply in the Chinese market, creating a big potential market for domestic alternatives, experts said.

Weuphoria marks significant progress in homemade vaccines, said Sui Ye, partner of consultancy Roland Berger. "The national law on vaccine management, coronavirus and the Healthy China 2030 initiative are all helping the Chinese vaccine industry to achieve leapfrog development. Rising awareness of health management and disease prevention is also creating a boom in demand for vaccines."

Domestic vaccine sales are accelerating, breaking Western multinationals' monopoly and "the future is promising", Sui said.

According to Guosheng Securities, the domestic vaccine would quickly garner market share in China given its "obvious advantages". For example, local drug-makers tend to be more flexible and can benefit a larger section of the Chinese people.

In China, Pfizer's 13-valent pneumonia vaccine needs to be injected when the child reaches a certain age. But Weuphoria is designed to protect children who are six weeks or older but have not yet reached their sixth birthday. The number of doses to be administered is determined by the child's age. A single dose costs 598 yuan ($86), 100 yuan cheaper than the only imported vaccine.

Weuphoria received the approval of the National Medical Products Administration in December 2019.Walvax said in its previous news reports that it expects to reach an annual production capacity of 30 million doses.

Since the first dose of Weuphoria was injected into a child in Jiangxi province in April, the vaccine has received approvals to be sold in about 20 provinces and regions in China.

"The 13-valent pneumonia vaccine is one of the most popular vaccines in the world, and is widely recognized by the medical and commercial sector. That can partly explain why we are developing its domestic alternatives," said Jiang Xinwei, an analyst of consultancy Analysys.

Tao Lina, former vaccine expert at the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said having only one domestic company to produce a key vaccine is not enough. "A sufficient capacity and full competition should be formed to be able to lower the price and finally benefit all Chinese children with a vaccine highly recommended by the World Health Organization."
 

(China Daily)