Excessive zeal causes cracks in Korean consortium making Russia's Covid-19 vaccines

Overheated competition for the production of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V has led to an internal dispute of a Korean consortium. Currently, two consortia of more than 10 Korean companies are planning to manufacture Sputnik V.

On Monday, GL Rapha and its subsidiary Hankook Korus announced that they would exclude Humedix from the Sputnik V consortium.

Earlier, Humedix was expected to make drug products (DP) of Sputnik V in the GL Rapha-led consortium.

GL Rapha and Hankook Korus said they would exclude Humedix from the Sputnik V consortium.

However, on Friday, Humedix announced that it would also participate in another domestic consortium, led by its parent company Huons Global, to manufacture the Russian vaccine. This consortium includes Prestige Biopharma, Humedix, and Boran Pharma.

However, GL Rapha and Hankook Korus were not happy with Humedix’s participation in both consortia.

GL Rapha and Hankook Korus, which formed the first Korean consortium for Sputnik V manufacturing, said Humedix’s act was morally unacceptable and noticed Humedix on Friday that they would exclude Humedix from the consortium.

“We have identified all the facts about the composition of the Sputnik V consortium, written in the press release by Huons Global,” an official at GL Rapha said. “We could no longer maintain a business relationship based on mutual trust with Humedix, a subsidiary of Huons Global, and informed our decision immediately.”

While GL Rapha shared important information with its consortium partners for Sputnik V production, the consortium member Humedix abandoned mutual trust and participated in another consortium without any prior discussion, which was morally intolerable, GL Rapha said.

Humedix seemed to have been unable to predict Hankook Korus and RL Rapha’s decision.

“It is not that we are moving from Hankook Korus consortium to Huons Global consortium,” an official at Humedix told Korea Biomedical Review. “We want to participate in both of the consortia, and our production capacity is sufficient.”

However, as GL Rapha officially announced on Monday that its Sputnik V consortium would go without Humedix, it is unlikely that the company will reverse its decision.

Humedix has not released any official response or comment.

The news of the Humedix exclusion from the Russian vaccine consortium pulled down the company’s shares rapidly.

Humedix shares plunged to 30,700 won ($27.44) as of 2 p.m. Monday, a 14.13 percent fall from the previous trading day’s closure at 35,750 won. The stock price had gone down as low as 30,050 won in the morning.

Industry officials pay attention to whether a new company will make up for the empty spot for DP in GL Rapha’s Sputnik V consortium.

“We will proceed with our vaccine business with the current members of the consortium,” the official at GL Rapha said. “Nothing has been decided on the participation of an additional company.”