COVID vaccines

19 November 2024
Daiichi Sankyo seeks to secure production volume by tapping overseas markets. (Photo by Hinako Banno)
Boxes of COVID-19 vaccines are seen at a packaging workshop inside the Beijing Institute of Biological Products of Sinopharm's China National Biotec Group in Beijing, February 26, 2021.
Caixin

China's medical exports tumble as world moves on from COVID

Medicines and equipment hit by weak demand amid slow global recovery

7 August 2023
Moderna is looking into making COVID-19 vaccines tailored to specific countries or regions. (Source photos by Reuters) 
COVID vaccines

Moderna eyes local COVID vaccines for Japan, other countries

Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton highlights room for region-specific shots

12 April 2023
COVID-19 boosters in Japan would be offered once a year under proposed guidelines. (Photo by Kosuke Imamura)
COVID vaccines

Japan weighs recommending annual COVID shots for most

Once-a-year boosters would be given ahead of year-end holidays

9 February 2023
A health care worker administers a vaccine in Osaka. Japan is pivoting away from treating COVID-19 as a health emergency. (Photo by Arisa Moriyama)
COVID vaccines

Japan's 1st plant for mRNA COVID vaccine to be built by Daiichi Sankyo

Drugmaker targets capacity of 20m doses yearly, boosting nation's preparedness

6 February 2023
China's hospitals, like this one in Shanghai, have been overrun with mostly elderly COVID-19 patients since strict antivirus restrictions were dropped in December. But data suggests infections have already peaked. 
The Big Story

China crests first infection wave since abandoning zero-COVID

Overloaded hospitals and morgues suggest true death toll is hidden and worst is to come

11 January 2023
Daiichi Sankyo's bivalent booster vaccine candidate contains a messenger RNA component of the original coronavirus strain and another of the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants.
COVID vaccines

Japan's Daiichi Sankyo to seek OK for omicron booster by April 2024

Shionogi and KM Biologics also eye homegrown shots targeting variants

7 January 2023
Customers buy medicine at a pharmacy as the local government distributes more fever medicines to the market, following the COVID-19 outbreak, in Nanjing, China on Dec. 19.
Economy

China's GDP growth to accelerate to 4.7% in 2023: Nikkei survey

Sudden policy changes, spread of virus cast shadow over 'V-shaped recovery'

28 December 2022
Chinese mainlanders are increasingly visiting Macao to receive mRNA vaccoines. (Source photos by AFP/Jiji and AP) 
Coronavirus

Chinese visitors lured by mRNA vaccines to Macao, Hong Kong

Mainlanders flock to enclave, prepare for Hong Kong border to reopen to get shots

25 December 2022
This sports arena has been converted into a fever clinic, with COVID-19 outbreaks slamming Beijing on Dec. 20.
Coronavirus

China battles to keep hospitals open for COVID patients

Medics needed; drugstores told to limit ibuprofen sales to 6 pills per person per week

20 December 2022
Japanese biotech company Takara Bio plans to build a new factory to add to its existing plant with the aim of producing 73 million doses of COVID vaccine by fiscal 2027. 
COVID vaccines

Japan's Takara Bio to build another COVID vaccine factory

Company aims for 73m doses by fiscal 2027 to become dominant producer

5 December 2022
Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, right, receives a refrigerated container from Japan. (Photo by Yuichi Shiga)
International relations

Philippines receives cold trucks from Japan to deliver COVID shots

Logistics equipment to help boost vaccine shipments to islands

26 November 2022
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Kimana, Kenya, in 2021: Weakening intellectual property protections will not increase the availability of drugs in developing countries.
Opinion

Japan should reject WTO proposal to weaken COVID patents

Government's pandemic preparation plan depends on commitments from drugmakers

11 November 2022
A woman receives a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Jakarta.
COVID vaccines

Indonesia's COVID vaccine shows region's push for third way

Jakarta now has homegrown halal alternative to Western, Chinese shots

10 November 2022
Nasal vaccines for influenza have already been approved in the U.S. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
COVID vaccines

Nasal vaccine for COVID-19 offers hope to emerging nations

No-needle products win approval in India and beyond

15 October 2022
Sinovac Biotech is among the Chinese players that have developed convential vaccines against COVID-19.
COVID vaccines

China builds plants for mRNA vaccines still in development limbo

CanSino, Sinopharm seek Chinese equivalents of Pfizer and Moderna shots

13 October 2022
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, second right, attends the opening of Etana Biotechnologies' mRNA vaccine production site on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Etana Biotechnologies)
Caixin

How a Chinese mRNA COVID vaccine was approved in Indonesia

Southeast Asian country aims to be more self-sufficient in dealing with pandemic

12 October 2022
A medical worker in Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district, just after the city's lockdown was lifted in early June. China's anti-COVID measures remain among the world's strictest. 
The Big Story

Self-isolated: China's lonely zero-COVID battle in spotlight as Xi seeks third term

As 20th Party Congress approaches, China appears trapped by draconian anti-virus policies

12 October 2022
Japan is preparing to send 43 million doses of the newest coronavirus vaccine to local governments.
COVID vaccines

Japan approves Pfizer vaccine for omicron variants BA.4, BA.5

Injections due to start this month with 43m doses to be supplied nationwide

5 October 2022
AGC, which operates this site in Italy, hopes to boost production capabilities at its plants in Japan. 
Materials

AGC eyes Japanese output of mRNA to spur domestic COVID vaccines

Materials maker to invest in Yokohama plant, preparing for pandemics

3 October 2022
Boxes of Walvax Biotechnology's mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 are displayed at a trade fair in Shanghai in April 2021, during the long development and trial process.
Coronavirus

Indonesia authorizes emergency use of China's mRNA vaccine

Country also adopts homegrown jab as it looks to build local production

30 September 2022
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel on Sept. 14 says his vaccine maker wants the same kind of deal with the Japanese government that it has with Canada, the U.K. and Australia. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)
COVID vaccines

Moderna looks to build COVID vaccine plant in Japan, CEO says

Pharmaceutical first needs government to agree to long-term purchases of shots

14 September 2022
A flight attendant receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Haneda Airport. Japan intends for the new booster to be administered through such workplace vaccinations. (Photo by Mizuho Miyazaki)
COVID vaccines

Japan greenlights omicron COVID vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna

Rollout to start as early as September with vulnerable groups

13 September 2022
B Medical Systems, purchased by Navis in 2015, is the world’s largest vaccine cold chain provider. (Source photos from company website)
DealStreetAsia

Malaysia's Navis to exit Europe medical cold chain company

Nasdaq-listed Azenta to acquire entire stake in vaccine storage provider B Med

16 August 2022
None of the four COVID-19 vaccines currently cleared for use in Japan was domestically developed.
COVID vaccines

Shionogi to file as soon as June for COVID shot green light

Homegrown vaccine developers inch closer to rollouts in Japan

4 June 2022
A nurse handles vials of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Venezuela in March 2021.
COVID vaccines

China's vaccine diplomacy spoiled by omicron variant

Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino Biologics exports fall 97% on poor protection

8 May 2022
Takara Bio looks to put new reagents for mRNA vaccines on the market this fall. (Photo courtesy of Takara Bio)
COVID vaccines

Japan pharma cranks up output of COVID vaccine materials

Global supplies shortage and dependence on West spell urgency, opportunity

5 May 2022
Shionogi is set to start clinical trials in the U.S. for its COVID-19 oral therapy.(Nikkei montage/Photos by Tomoki Mera, Shionogi)
Coronavirus

Shionogi in talks with U.S. to supply COVID oral drug

Japanese drugmaker also says vaccine proven effective in trials

23 April 2022
Novavax's vaccine will be Japan's fourth shot approved for preventing coronavirus infections. 
COVID vaccines

Japan approves Novavax COVID vaccine, adding fourth option

Jab, different from Pfizer and Moderna's mRNA vaccines, provides 'diversity'

19 April 2022
Hitachi's new system will eliminate the need for credit cards or smartphones for shopping, and will speed up transactions such as payments and check-ins for business operators.
COVID vaccines

No credit card needed with Hitachi's fingertip payment system

Service will be offered to hotels and retailers, can verify vaccine records

9 April 2022