Full Press Release Details
Sinovac Forced to Temporarily Suspend
Hepatitis A Vaccine Production Line Due to Disruptive Actions taken by Minority Shareholder of Sinovac Beijing
Actions of Aihua Pan continue to harm
the Company's shareholders and customers
BEIJING, May 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinovac Biotech
Ltd. (NASDAQ: SVA) ("Sinovac " or the "Company"), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in
China, today announced it has been forced to suspend production at its plant for hepatitis A vaccine, and to destroy the bulk
of its hepatitis A vaccines being produced at its Shangdi site, which is capable of producing approximately 3.5 million doses
of finished product hepatitis A vaccines. The Company is not presently able to assess the impact on its sales of hepatitis A vaccine
due to a lack of certainty regarding both the market's reaction to this incident, as well as the schedule for resuming production.
Sinovac made this decision due to actions
taken by Aihua Pan, the Chairman of the Board of the Company's controlled Chinese subsidiary, Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd.
("Sinovac Beijing"), who was appointed by Sinobioway Biomedicine Co., Ltd. ("Sinobioway"), the minority
shareholder of Sinovac Beijing.
Following the multiple disruptions of the
Company's power source by Sinobioway, Sinovac Beijing initiated its emergency response protocol and resumed production and
quality management activities step by step. After hepatitis A vaccine production resumed on April 23, 2018, the quality assurance
department performed several assessments of the production environment and vaccine safety. Unfortunately, it was determined that
the quality and safety of the vaccines could not be sufficiently verified to the Company's high standards. Given the fact
that Sinobioway continues to disrupt operations at Sinovac Beijing, the Company has decided again to temporarily suspend the hepatitis
A vaccine production plant and the production of bulk of hepatitis A vaccine. The Company will inspect the affected plant, fumigate
and sterilize the facilities, and verify whether any equipment was damaged by the power outage in April.
On May 6, 2018 a group of approximately 20 people wearing security
uniforms surrounded Sinovac Beijing's office, and threatened and intimidated the Company's employees. In the altercation, one of
our employees was pushed to the ground and injured by a security guard working for Sinobioway. The Sinobioway security guard was
detained by police for questioning, while the Sinovac Beijing employee was treated and discharged from the emergency center of
Mr. Pan and others have taken a number
of aggressive actions that continue to harm the Company's shareholders and customers. These actions include intentionally
interfering with the audit of the Company's financials, forcibly taking control of Sinovac Beijing's corporate offices
and the Shangdi site, limiting the physical movement of the employees in Sinovac Beijing's general manager's office
and finance department, cutting the power to the Shangdi site, disrupting Sinovac Beijing's hepatitis A and seasonal flu
vaccine production, and forcing the Company to destroy vaccines.
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is a China-based biopharmaceutical
Company that focuses on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious
diseases. Sinovac's product portfolio includes vaccines against enterovirus71, or EV71, hepatitis A and B, seasonal influenza,
H5N1 pandemic influenza (avian flu), H1N1 influenza (swine flu), and mumps. Healive, the hepatitis A vaccine manufactured by the
Company has passed the assessment under WHO Prequalification procedures in 2017. The EV71 vaccine, an innovative vaccine developed
by Sinovac against hand foot and mouth disease caused by EV71, was commercialized in China in 2016. In 2009, Sinovac was the first
company worldwide to receive approval for its H1N1 influenza vaccine, which it has supplied to the Chinese Government's vaccination
campaign and stockpiling program. The Company is also the only supplier of the H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine to the government
stockpiling program. The Company is developing a number of new products including a Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine, pneumococcal
polysaccharides vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and varicella vaccine. Sinovac primarily sells its vaccines in China, while
also exploring growth opportunities in international markets. The Company has exported select vaccines to over 10 countries in
Asia and South America.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement may include certain statements
that are not descriptions of historical facts, but are forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe
harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified
by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends,"
"plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any such statements.
Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
Tel: +86-10-8279-9871
Fax: +86-10-6296-6910
Email: ir@sinovac.com
Tel : 1-646 277 1258
Email : Phil.denning@icrinc.com
Tel : +86 10 6583 7510
Email : Edmond.Lococo@icrinc.com
Tel: 1-203--682-8233
Email: william.zima@icrinc.com