Gov't, Samsung in talks with Moderna for faster vaccine supply

A Moderna COVID-19 vaccine / Reuters-Yonhap

Korea aims to receive 24 million vaccine doses from Moderna by October

By Kim Yoo-chul

Korean health ministry officials are teaming up with representatives of Samsung Biologics for advanced discussions with Moderna for speeding up the COVID-19 vaccine supply here, two sources directly involved with the issue told The Korea Times, Wednesday.

Specifically, South Korea aims to receive 24 million vaccine doses from Moderna by the end of October, as the country is hoping to immunize at least 70 percent of its population with two shots each by that time, they said. Despite the continued vaccine shortages, the October goal could be achievable by maximizing the efficiency of available supplies, President Moon Jae-in said.

But the sources noted that the country's target of getting 24 million doses by October didn't include the doses to be manufactured by Samsung Biologics' Songdo production facility in Incheon, which will begin production late this month.

"Moderna confirmed it has entered into a supply agreement with the government to provide 40 million doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of this year, with its first shipment to be completed in May. But out of the guaranteed volume, just 2.45 million have arrived so far, some 6 percent. Korea aims to get 24 million doses of Moderna vaccines by the end of October, which is an achievable goal as Samsung Biologics will play its part," one source said.

The country's health minister issued a public apology over the delay of Moderna vaccine shipments, as the U.S. company said it was only able to deliver less than half of the 8.5 million doses promised for this month. Because of the continued spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, South Korea has been seeing a record amount of new daily cases in recent weeks. Despite its decision to allow people in their 20s and 30s to take available AstraZeneca vaccine shots, the country-wide inoculation campaign has still been played by vaccine shortages.

Early Wednesday, senior presidential secretary for communication Park Soo-hyun said in a local radio interview that Moderna will notify the government of its final decision regarding South Korea's requests for early vaccine distribution by the end of this week.

"Out of the guaranteed 40 million doses, Moderna verbally vowed to provide 37.6 million doses, 94 percent, by this year. That verbal agreement could be finalized (by this week)," Park said adding that despite his acknowledgement of Moderna's updated vaccine supply plans, the government is being asked to maintain a cautious stance until Moderna releases its final updates on vaccine shipments.

Samsung Biologics' role

Another source said Samsung Biologics is in "advanced discussions" with health ministry officials to explore possible ways to increase and hasten the supply of Moderna vaccines here.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong leaves a detention center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 13, AP-Yonhap

"Because it's the government's role to handle vaccine-related issues, Samsung Biologics isn't in a position to make any comments. But as the Samsung affiliate is Moderna's CDMO partner, one possible idea is that Samsung Biologics may revise the CDMO agreement it signed with Moderna," the second source said.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the government are hoping Moderna lets Samsung's Songdo plant manufacture the vaccines locally. Second Vice Health Minister Kang Do-tae said the ministry needs further discussion due to a number of outstanding issues that need to be addressed before the initial local distribution of Samsung Biologics-produced Moderna vaccines. "Regarding this possibility, this is an issue between Samsung Biologics and Moderna."

At the time of President Moon's first in-person summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, Moderna agreed with the Samsung affiliate to manufacture "billions of doses" of mRNA-based vaccines. Moderna has the sole authority to determine the volume distribution of its vaccines to be manufactured by Samsung's Songdo plant.

President Moon said the justice ministry's decision to grant parole for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong reflects the country's expectation on Samsung to help resolve semiconductor and vaccine shortage issues.

The release of the Samsung leader comes at a political cost because Moon took power with an affirmative promise to distance the government from big businesses.

"Samsung's Lee was the hidden force in arranging high-level meetings between senior government officials and Pfizer executives late last year, while the government had been struggling to finalize a vaccine deal with Pfizer," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Investors and governments once hailed South Korea for its effective handling of the pandemic with prompt testing and thorough contact tracing, but the country's slow vaccination uptake has overlapped with a spike in transmissible variants such as Delta.

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