This photo shows LG Chem Ltd.’s polio vaccine Eupolio, as provided by the company on March 14, 2023.
SEOUL, March 14 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Chem Ltd., a leading South Korean chemicals manufacturer, said Tuesday it has signed a contract to supply the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with polio and pentavalent vaccines for infants and children.
Under the deal, LG Chem will provide US$200 million worth of the vaccines: $100 million worth of its polio vaccine, Eupolio, and $100 million worth of the pentavalent vaccine, Eupenta — the five-in-one vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae — the company said in a release.
Eupolio will be supplied for two years starting in 2024, and the contract for Eupenta will be effective for five years beginning this year.
LG Chem said the supply can help some 80 million infants and children get immunized against the diseases.
LG Chem’s contract accounts for more than 30 percent of the entire procurement volume UNICEF had put up for bidding, according to LG Chem.
LG Chem received the first World Health Organization’s pre-qualification approval for its hepatitis B vaccine, Euvax, in 1996, before getting the same approval for Eupenta in 2016 and Eupolio in 2020.
LG Chem is in the process of developing a hexavalent vaccine that combines Eupolio and Eupenta, among other combination vaccines.
(Yonhap)
