(Yicai Global) Aug. 5 -- Sinovac Biotech is to invest USD60 million to build a vaccine plant in Chile which will most likely produce the Chinese pharmaceutical firm’s CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine.

The new plant, to be located in the capital Santiago, will make 50 million doses a year and is scheduled to start operating in the first quarter next year, Beijing-based Sinovac said yesterday. The company also plans to build an innovation and development center in the northern region of Antofagasta.

Chile, which funded CoronaVac clinical trials in the country and has one of the highest vaccination rates against Covid-19 in the world, has promised to order at least 60 million doses of the vaccine over the next three years.

CoronaVac has a 58.5 percent efficacy rate in preventing Covid-19 symptoms, the Chilean government said on Aug. 3. The South American country has already received nearly 20 million doses of CoronaVac, which requires two doses administered 28 days apart and can be stored in regular refrigerators.

Editor: Kim Taylor