Benzinga | Jul 6, 2021 02:24PM EDT

South Korea Negotiating With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Makers To Produce Up To 1B Doses: Reuters

* South Korea is reportedly in talks with mRNA vaccine makers, including Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA), to produce COVID-19 shots in the country.

* The country is ready to offer the capacity to make up to 1 billion doses immediately, Reuters reports, citing a senior government official.

* The plan, if agreed, would help ease the crunched supply of the shots, particularly in Asia, which lags North America and Europe in vaccine rollouts.

* South Korea already has deals to locally produce three COVID-19 vaccines developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ:AZN), Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX), and Russia.

* It also has a vaccine bottling and packaging deal with Moderna.

* "We've been holding frequent talks with big pharmaceutical companies to produce mRNA vaccines," Lee Kang-ho, director-general for the global vaccine hub committee under South Korea's health ministry, told Reuters in an interview.

* BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) declined to comment, Moderna and CureVac BV (NASDAQ:CVAC) did not reply to Reuters' requests for comments.

* Lee declined to name local vaccine makers who can produce mRNA vaccines immediately. Still, a government source said they include Hanmi Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd and Quratis Co Ltd.