Kingsley signed an exclusive supply cooperation agreement with Abbott/Watson for the commercial production of plasmids for mRNA vaccines

On October 22, Kingsley announced that its non-wholly-owned subsidiary, Kingsway Vigorous Biologics, has entered into a general service agreement with Abbott Biologics and Watson Biologics for a biological product licensing application (BLA) for the mRNA vaccine and its commercial production. Watson will become the main applicant for the project, and Kingsway Biotech will become the exclusive service provider for the commercial production of the project plasmid.

In June 2020, the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine jointly developed by Abbott, Watson and a Chinese medical institution was approved for clinical trials by the State Drug Administration (NMPA), which is the first mRNA vaccine project in China. With its Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) plasmid production platform and multiple clinical plasmid production experience, Jinsrui Vigorous Biotech quickly moved the project into clinical trials.

On May 11, 2020, Watson Bio and Aibo Bio signed the "Technology Development Cooperation Agreement" to jointly carry out the research and development and commercial production of the new coronavirus mRNA vaccine. According to the terms of the agreement, Aibo Biotech is mainly responsible for the preclinical research of the novel coronavirus mRNA vaccine, and Watson Bio is mainly responsible for the novel coronavirus mRNA vaccine QA, QC, IND, clinical research, NDA and commercial production. After the approval of the new coronavirus mRNA vaccine for marketing, Watson Biotech paid a total of 80 million yuan in R&D and clinical milestone costs to Aibo Biologics.

As of the date of this announcement, phase III clinical trials of the project have been approved by the drug regulatory authorities in Mexico, Indonesia and Nepal. Watson's modular facility was commissioned in September 2021 for the commercial production of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.