Vials of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine are seen at the booth of Fosun BioNTech at the Medical Equipment and Healthcare Products Exhibition Area of the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 7, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Fosun Pharma, the Chinese vaccine partner of BioNTech, said it had no plans to lay off employees, following media reports that its vaccine department would cut 10 percent of its workforce to improve resource allocation. 

The company will allocate resources according to business need to ensure the steady development of the company. Continuous evolution of organizations and teams is a necessary management tool to ensure that the company builds on its core competencies, Fosun said in a statement, Jiemian reported.

According to Jiemian.com, Fosun's employee cut was announced around mid-November, with the vaccine division proposing an "optimization target" of 10 percent, although these changes have yet been finalized.

And according to E Yaogouzi, an industry media platform, the reason for the layoffs is that the coronavirus vaccine business costs 50 million yuan ($7.82 million) per month, this despite products still yet to be launched in the Chinese mainland. The Global Times could not immediately verify the information.  

Fosun's COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, named BNT162b2, was approved by the National Medical Products Administration for clinical trial registration in November 2020. 

The first delivery of Fosun and BioNTch mRNA vaccines arrived in Hong Kong and the Macao Special Administration Region in February 2021.

The company said in June that its production line for COVID-19 mRNA vaccine was expected to be completed in the Chinese mainland as early as August, and would be ready for mass production. Yet no updates on the production have been announced.

However, in late August, Fosun said that the approval process for BNT162b2 remains ongoing and is being supported and managed by multiple government departments.

Global Times