PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia has approved the conditional registration of the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine, its health ministry said.

Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement the decision was made during the 356th Drug Control Authority meeting on Friday (April 23).

The product is developed by China's Sinovac Life Sciences.

Pharmaniaga LifeScience (PLS) is carrying out the fill-and-finish process of the vaccine.

Before this, Malaysia has also given conditional approval to the finished doses of the CoronaVac vaccine produced by Sinovac in China.

Dr Noor Hisham said the deal for PLS to carry out the fill-and-finish process of the CoronaVac vaccine is an achievement for Malaysia, which has been relying on imported vaccine and plasma products.

"Hopefully, this development can spur the growth of the local pharmaceutical industry," he said.

In January, PLS signed an agreement with Sinovac to import 14 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, which will then be "filled and finished" at its facilities in Puchong, Selangor.

Fill-and-finish is the process of filling vials with vaccines and finishing with the packaging of the medicine for distribution.