Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 24 July 2021, negotiations were held at the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan to agree on the launch of production of a vaccine against coronavirus in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 

The negotiations were attended by the Minister of Innovative Development I. Abdurakhmonov, Director of the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry S. Kariev and representatives of the JV Jurabek Laboratories LLC, and from the Chinese side - the Chief Engineer of Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Wang Zhi Xiong, Director of the Export Department Chen Fan and others. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Innovative Development of Uzbekistan.

Minister Ibrohim Abdurakhmonov spoke about the stages of establishing and developing bilateral cooperation and its current results, noting that this meeting is of particular historical importance for our country. The meeting discussed the possibility of producing the ZF-UZ-VAC-2001 vaccine in Uzbekistan.

Representatives of Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical highly appreciated the contribution of Uzbekistan to the clinical trials of the ZF-UZ-VAC-2001 vaccine, as well as the open and transparent work of the Uzbek side. Following the results of familiarization with the potential of the country’s pharmaceutical production, the Chinese partners highly appreciated the infrastructure potential for the production of vaccines against coronavirus. The chief engineer of the company, Wang Zhi Xiong, noted that the production facilities in Uzbekistan fully meet the requirements of the vaccine production.

Taking into account the current rate of spread of the COVID-19 virus in the world and in Uzbekistan, including, preliminary agreements have been reached on the timing and volumes of China’s supplies of raw materials for the production of vaccines in our country. It was decided to sign a memorandum with Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical to launch production in the short term, taking into account the situation of Uzbekistan in Central Asia and the region. The parties exchanged views on the possibility of producing 10 million doses of vaccines per month in Uzbekistan at the first stage, and then increasing this figure to 200 million doses per year.

An agreement was also reached with the Chinese side on the transfer of vaccine production technology in the near future. In order to improve the qualifications of Uzbek scientists and specialists in this field, simultaneous training will begin in China and Uzbekistan.