OSAKA -- Japanese drugmaker Shionogi will review how it sources raw materials for its oral COVID-19 drug Xocova in an attempt to shift away from a heavy reliance on China, President and CEO Isao Teshirogi said in an interview with Nikkei.
Currently, the company relies entirely on China for the synthetic chemicals used to make the drug, but it has begun to consider procuring the materials from Japan and India. Aiming to mitigate geopolitical and currency exchange-related risks, Shionogi plans to establish a new supply chain across several countries, capable of producing 30 million doses of the drug in the fiscal year ending March 2024, triple the current capacity.
