BERLIN— Pfizer Inc. vaccine partner BioNTech SE said it would set up a new Asia headquarters in Singapore to produce its Covid-19 vaccine and other medicines, as global demand for the lifesaving shots continues to grow.
The new factory, which is supported by Singapore’s Economic Development Board, a government agency, is expected to become operational in 2023, BioNTech said. The company didn’t release any information regarding the cost of the project and the scale of government support.
The fact that it is likely to take two years to set up the production line underlines the complexity of manufacturing the so-called mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. The companies have pointed to this complexity as an argument against waiving the patent on their shot for it to be manufactured in developing countries, a move the U.S. is pushing for.
BioNTech, a small German drugmaker focused on cancer treatments, came up with the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the U.S. and Europe. BioNTech and Pfizer market the shot together, except in Germany, Turkey and China, where BioNTech operates alone.
The company said in a written statement that it selected Singapore for its regional headquarters and would build a highly automated mRNA manufacturing site for vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases and cancer.
