On the 12th, BLUEMTEC CO., LTD. announced that BluePharm Korea will hold a flu vaccine pre-sale event centered on 10 products from seven pharmaceutical and vaccine companies with which it has finalized supply agreements. Including the GC Biopharma Corp. (GC Flu) product currently under negotiation, the total volume handled this season is expected to exceed 1.1 million doses.
Customers who order vaccines during the pre-order period can secure supplies at discounted prices and will also receive discounts on related products, such as pneumococcal vaccines.
Participating products in the pre-sale include: △Huons Co., Ltd. (Park’s Grip, E-Fluelda) △SK BIOSCIENCE (SkyCellFlu) △SamjinPharmaceutical (FluCellBox, FluAd) △Korea Vaccine (CovaxFlu) △AstraZeneca(FluMist) △ Boryung BioPharma (Boryung Flu V Injection, Boryung Flu VIII-TF Injection) △ KwangdongPharmaceutical (Fluarix Injection). Product shipments will proceed sequentially by product, starting from the end of this month through next month.
The reason for this early pre-sale lies in supply uncertainties caused by changes in the circulating viral strains. While the “J” lineage of the H3N2A virus was used to manufacture this season’s vaccine, the virus currently observed as the dominant strain both domestically and internationally is the “K” lineage of the same H3N2 virus.
As the circulating strain differed from expectations, the schedule for securing reference materials from World Health Organization (WHO)-designated institutions was delayed, and the production and shipment schedules for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) by major domestic manufacturers have also been pushed back. In fact, GC Biopharma Corp. explained in its recent earnings announcement that the production schedule for flu vaccine APIs was adjusted due to delays in securing reference materials for the circulating strain, and that volumes not reflected in second-quarter sales were carried over to the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the delay in production schedules does not necessarily lead to a supply shortage for the entire season. At a briefing on national shipment approvals held last June, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety projected that a total of approximately 27.45 million doses of influenza vaccine—comprising eight domestically manufactured products and six imported products—would receive national shipment approval this year. This represents the largest volume on record, exceeding the 25.81 million doses in 2024 and the 25.50 million doses from last year.
