Alibaba Health and Sinovac Biotech Forge Strategic Partnership to Build an 'Internet + Vaccines' Digital Platform

In the new normal of epidemic prevention and control, an increasing number of people have come to recognize the importance of vaccination in disease prevention. Integrating the entire lifecycle of each vaccine—from development to administration—with “Internet Plus” technologies to achieve long-term tracking on a “one person, one dose” basis will provide a protective umbrella for public health nationwide.

On September 17, Alibaba Health signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (“Sinovac”), a leading biopharmaceutical company in China. The two parties will collaborate in areas including the “Internet + Vaccines” digital platform, online vaccine appointment scheduling, end-to-end vaccine traceability, post-vaccination health follow-ups, and public education on vaccines.

Figure: AliHealth and Sinovac Biotech sign agreement on-site

It is understood that the AliHealth Immunization Planning Center will oversee the implementation of this collaboration. With years of accumulated experience in disease prevention, the center offers services such as time-slot appointment scheduling for vaccinations and intelligent, age-based vaccination scheduling for children. It is also a leading online platform for HPV vaccine appointments. Recently, AliHealth has successively launched online appointment and vaccination services for shingles and influenza vaccines in multiple cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, garnering strong consumer enthusiasm.

Furthermore, the collaboration between the two parties also includes the development of a vaccination platform for the novel coronavirus vaccine (hereinafter referred to as the “COVID-19 vaccine”). The platform features several key functions, including online appointment scheduling for COVID-19 vaccinations, matching of individual and vaccine information based on Alibaba Health’s traceability codes, post-vaccination health status follow-ups, and issuance of vaccination certificates. Currently, some high-risk exposure populations are already able to use this platform to schedule their COVID-19 vaccinations and access subsequent services.

China approved the "Emergency Use (Trial) Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Vaccines" on June 24, 2020. CoronaVac™, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Beijing Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Sinovac Holdings, has been deployed for emergency use in multiple regions. In accordance with relevant regulations, emergency use (trial) is restricted to specific populations at high risk of exposure who cannot be adequately protected by currently available and effective preventive measures. Priority groups for emergency vaccination include healthcare workers, epidemic prevention personnel, border inspection staff, and individuals essential to maintaining basic urban operations. Vaccinating these groups helps establish an immune barrier, thereby providing stable support for societal functioning. Additionally, certain overseas workers, as well as some healthcare and market personnel, have also received emergency vaccinations with the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine.

Currently, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Research & Development Co., Ltd. has completed Phase I/II clinical trials in China, and Phase III clinical trials are being steadily advanced in multiple countries, including Brazil, Indonesia, and Turkey. Sinovac R&D has completed the industrialization infrastructure for the vaccine and commenced production, with an annual designed capacity exceeding 300 million doses.

Following the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine, Alibaba Health will continue to collaborate with Sinovac Biotech on the development of an online appointment platform for marketed vaccines, and will progressively implement cooperative initiatives in areas such as public health education, vaccine coding, and end-to-end traceability.