TAIPEI, February 18 (Reuters) – BioNTech SE from Germany plans to supply the COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, the company said, after the island complained that the company in December dropped a deal to buy 5 million doses at the last minute , possibly due to Chinese pressure.
Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Wednesday that authorities were about to announce the deal in December when BioNTech removed the plug, although he added that the deal is still pending and has not been torn.
Although he did not say directly that China was to blame, Chen hinted that there was a political dimension to the decision and that he was concerned about “intervention by outside forces”, hence his caution when publicly discussing the deal planned at the time.
In a statement sent via email late on Wednesday, the company said it was planning to supply Taiwan with a vaccine.
“BioNTech is committed to helping end the pandemic for people around the world and we plan to provide Taiwan with our vaccine as part of that global commitment. Discussions are ongoing and BioNTech will provide an update. “
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly struggled with the island over the coronavirus pandemic.
Taiwan was angered by China’s claim that it can only speak on the island on the international stage on the subject, while Taiwan accuses China of lack of transparency.
BioNTech has signed an agreement with the Chinese company Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd to develop and market exclusively COVID-19 vaccine products, developed using BioNTech mRNA technology in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
In return, it agreed to pay up to $ 85 million in licensing fees and to invest $ 50 million for a stake in the German company.
The development and distribution partner of BioNTech to the rest of the world is the American company Pfizer Inc.
Taiwan announced in late December that it had agreed to purchase nearly 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 10 million from British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, with the remainder coming from the global COVAX vaccine program and an unidentified company. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)