Du Weimin’s Biokangtai under pressure following infant deaths

December 28, 2013 Leave a comment

Du Weimin’s Biokangtai under pressure following infant deaths

Staff Reporter

2013-12-27

Du Weimin, chairman of Shenzhen-based biotech firm Biokangtai and a renowned figure in China’s biotech industry, is facing a stern challenge to his career due to an incident which involves the death of seven infants.The seven children died shortly after being given a liver vaccine produced by Biokangtai. While the case is still under investigation, some have dubbed Du Weimin the “baby killer.”

Du Niuzai, Du Weimin’s brother, dismissed the charge, attributing it to the provocation of rivals. Biokangtai has looked into two cases in Hunan province and found that one baby was born prematurely and the other had pneumonia. “The occurrence of a number of abnormal cases is normal after the company produced 200 million B-type liver vaccines over the past years, similar to the appearance of allergy for taking penicillin,” remarked Du Niuzai.

Following the death of the two infants in Hunan, the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has suspended the use of vaccines from the same batch and is awaiting the results of autopsies.

The press has grown impatient however after discovering that another biotech company in Jiangsu province, in which Du Weimin had also invested, was ordered by the CFDA to suspend production after its rabies vaccine was found to have insufficient effects.

Du Weimin, 51, from Jiangxi province in China’s southeast, was a chemistry major at college. After graduation, he worked for four years as a testing agent at a hygienic and anti-epidemic station in Jiangsu before founding a biotech firm with his friend Han Gangjun. In 2000, the joint venture acquired a 0.68% stake in vaccine producer Changsheng Biotech, based in Changchun, Jilin province, where Du subsequently served as its marketing superintendent.

In 2006, Du Weimin and Han Gangjun joined forces again to establish Yanshen, another biotech firm in Jiangsu. The company has developed quickly, becoming the largest producer of flu vaccines and the fourth largest manufacturer of rabies vaccines. Meanwhile, under Du’s leadership Biokangtai has emerged as the nation’s largest B-type liver vaccine manufacturer, boasting an over 50% market share.

Filed under Health

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