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news.co.au
Chinese billionaire’s bet on Pfizer vaccine backfires as his personal wealth plummets
One of the richest men in China has seen his personal wealth plummet after betting on the success of the Pfizer Covid vaccine.
December 15, 2021 – 12:17AM
A Chinese billionaire has been dealt a massive blow following a significant Covid-19 investment involving one of the world’s most prominent vaccine developers.
As the pandemic swept through the world and campaigns for widespread vaccination grew, pharmaceutical boss Guo Guangchang struck a deal with Germany’s BioNTech SE, which partnered with Pfizer to produce one of the world’s most widely distributed vaccines.
The agreement, inked almost a year ago to the tune of $141 million (A$197 million), secured 100 million doses of mRNA shot for distribution in mainland China.
The deal would see Guangchang’s company Fosun Pharma at the forefront of inoculating a big portion of world’s largest population during the peak demand period for vaccines.
Only there’s been one small problem – the Chinese government is yet to approve the Pfizer jab for use.
Opinions on why the Communist state has rejected approving the jab differ wildly. According to Bloomberg analysts, it is “hard to tell when, if ever, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be approved for mainland China”.
Regulators are still yet to publicly reveal a single reason for its rejection.
Official figures say more than a billion people in China have been vaccinated with state-approved shots made by Sinovac Ltd. and Sinopharm Group.
Zhao Bing, a senior healthcare research analyst at China Renaissance Securities HK Ltd, says the issue over Pfizer getting the green light is “a political issue, rather than an economic or biological one”.
Zhao asserts that the domestic competition in China, coupled with the fact over two thirds of its population had already received a dose, means the likelihood for the jab to be financially successful – even if it is eventually approved – is slim.
“How much market share can Fosun grab?” he said.
“I don’t know, but it’s certainly not looking optimistic.
“It will end up with a far smaller space in the market if the domestic mRNA vaccine is approved first-hand.”
President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Joerg Wuttke, said the delay for BioNTech reaching hospitals “is a huge mystery”.
Guangchang, who was in 2019 declared China’s 50th richest man and is often referred to as the “Chinese Warren Buffett”, has taken a massive financial hit since striking the deal.
Fosun Pharma is trading shares more than 40 per cent below its August high, while his own net worth has plummeted well over a billion dollars to $3.5 billion (A$4.91b) from a previous 2021 peak of $4.6 billion (A$6.46b).
Guangchang’s company also agreed to invest $100 million (A$141 million) in a joint venture with BioNTech to manufacture the vaccine in a specialised plant in China. The deal was expected to churn out a billion doses of the shot each year upon approval.
Analysts claim the government is reluctant to green-light a foreign vaccine due to fear of showing a lack of faith in its own homegrown technology. Beijing’s reported concern could also be interpreted by nationalists as an acknowledgment that Chinese made vaccines are less effective than ones provided by the West.
“China doesn’t have an mRNA vaccine right now. When it does, it’d better be a domestic one, so that it shows the country is just as capable of pulling it off,” senior healthcare analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence Mia He said in August.
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Fortune
The world’s most sought after vaccine is still blocked in China
By Grady McGregor and Eamon Barrett
December 14, 2021 6:15 PM GMT+8
Grady McGregor here, filling in for Clay Chandler.
One year ago last Wednesday, Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old British grandmother received the first vaccine dose for COVID-19 outside of clinical trials. The jab, from German biotech firm BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, would become one of the world’s most effective and sought after COVID-19 vaccines and, last December, it seemed only a matter of time before the BioNTech vaccine entered the Chinese market.
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weehingthong 