The government has selected 17 projects led by companies and universities to support the manufacturing of vaccines when a pandemic breaks out, the industry minister announced Monday.
The government will offer subsidies totaling ¥226.5 billion ($1.6 billion) to entities including pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo and Hiroshima University to introduce or renovate facilities needed for vaccine production, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The entities, selected Friday, will produce biopharmaceuticals during normal times and switch to manufacturing vaccines and materials needed for their production during an outbreak of an infectious disease.
"We will build the foundation and footholds to secure vaccine supply domestically," industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters.
The move came after the coronavirus pandemic highlighted issues affecting vaccine development and production in the country, with Japan having depended on overseas to procure materials and other resources.
The government earmarked ¥227.4 billion in a supplementary budget for fiscal 2021 for the subsidy program and solicited applications between March and May this year.