Taiwan Puts BioNTech Vaccine Deal On Hold Due To Pressure From China: Bloomberg

An attempt by Taiwan to secure five million doses of Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) / BioNTech SE’s (NASDAQ: BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine failed “at the final step” of negotiations because of “political pressure,” revealed Taipei’s health minister Chen Shih-Chung, during a radio interview, Bloomberg reports.
Interference by “external forces” upset arrangements, Chen said. “There are some people that don’t want Taiwan to be too happy.”
Taiwan’s government is still talking with BioNTech, according to Presidential Office spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka. Inoculation in Taiwan has not yet started, but Chen said efforts to procure them from overseas continue, with the first vaccinations expected to start by mid of this year.
BioNTech signed a deal with Chinese firm Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd SFOSF to exclusively develop and commercialize COVID-19 vaccine products using BioNTech’s mRNA technology in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
BioNTech and Fosun did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In December last year, Taiwan agreed to buy almost 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, including 10 million from AstraZeneca plc AZN, with the rest coming from the COVAX global vaccine program.
In December, China agreed to purchase around 100 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech shot by 2021.
Price Action: PFE is up 0.03% at $34.7, and BNTX is up 0.5% at $115 in premarket hours on the last check Wednesday.