(Yicai Global) May 15 -- A unit of drugmaker Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co., China's biggest producer of hepatitis B vaccines, has registered its new anti-pneumonia jab in the West African country of Cote d'Ivoire, marking an important step in its efforts to crack the international market.

Beijing Minhai Biotechnology Co. has received a registration certificate for a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, Shenzhen-based Kangtai said yesterday, adding that it will help strengthen the firm's profile and boost its market influence. Registering drugs in developing countries is generally done to enhance cost control and to speed up application processes.

Kangtai Biological expects the vaccine to become available in China this year, Miao Xiang, its deputy general manager and board secretary, said earlier this month.

The company is a privately run drugmaker formed in 1992 with government support and through cooperation with American pharmaceutical company Merck & Company Inc., which helped with the development of a royalty-free hepatitis B vaccine. It has a 60 percent market share for the vaccine in China.

Editors: Emmi Laine, William Clegg