Malaysia is set to produce its first locally manufactured human vaccine by 2028, two years ahead of the original 2030 target.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang told The Star that Pharmaniaga Bhd will manufacture the vaccine through a technology transfer arrangement with a Chinese company.
The vaccine is a 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, or PCV13, which protects against 13 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis. According to Free Malaysia Today, the country currently imports all its vaccines from eight countries: the United States, France, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia.
“We didn’t have the capability to develop human vaccine, so we had to rely on other countries,” Chang said in the interview, recalling the Covid-19 pandemic. “When you rely on other countries, they will decide when to deliver the vaccine to us and they will decide what price they want to sell to us.”
Chang said the pandemic exposed the risks of having no domestic vaccine capability. He argued that local production would strengthen Malaysia’s preparedness for future health crises and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
“Our target is to possess the capability to develop human vaccine by 2030. But we might achieve it earlier, in 2028,” he said.
Malaysia is also working on a second vaccine-related development. A hexavalent vaccine for children would combine six immunisations in a single dose, protecting against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type B.
Chang did not name the Chinese firm involved in the technology transfer for PCV13.
The project marks a new chapter for Malaysia, which has had no domestic human vaccine manufacturing capability. The country’s pharmaceutical sector has focused on generic drugs and fill-finish operations for imported vaccines, but has not produced vaccines from scratch.
