Portrait of Mr. Ho Nhan - "father" of Nanocovax vaccine who recently passed away due to heart disease

On the morning of May 13, Ms. Nguyen Thi Son - founder of Son Kim Group and also mother-in-law of Mr. Ho Nhan - posted a press release about Mr. Ho Nhan - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company - passing away due to heart disease.

"The family and Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company are deeply saddened to announce that Dr. Ho Nhan, a pioneering scientist and entrepreneur in the field of biotechnology in Vietnam, passed away at 4:25 p.m. on May 12, at the age of 59," the announcement stated.

Dr. Ho Nhan passed away at the age of 59 due to heart disease (Photo: MCBV).

Nanogen Startup Journey

Mr. Ho Nhan was born in 1966 in Ho Chi Minh City, but grew up in New York (USA), and graduated with a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Arizona (USA). Before returning to Vietnam to settle in 2006, he spent nearly 20 years researching and working in the international biomedical industry, participating in many mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, hospital and medical equipment sectors.

In September 1997, he founded Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, and held two key positions as Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director. For many years, he was the person who directed the strategy and operated all activities of the enterprise.

As of the end of 2019, the company’s total assets reached over VND1,369 billion. Initially, the ownership structure was concentrated in Mr. Ho Nhan’s family. Mr. Nhan held 70% of the shares, his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van, owned 25%, and Mr. Ho Vu Thanh held 5%. However, this structure gradually changed as the company attracted interest from foreign investors.

In May 2019, Nanogen increased its charter capital from VND698.75 billion to VND715 billion through the offering of shares to foreign shareholders, thereby increasing the ownership ratio of this group of investors from 16.28% to 25.68%. By March 2021, the company continued to increase its charter capital to VND806.25 billion.

At this time, only Mr. Ho Nhan and his wife are the founding shareholders, in which Mr. Nhan holds 59.6% of the shares (equivalent to 480.5 billion VND) and Ms. Van holds 14.6% (equivalent to 117.8 billion VND). Foreign shareholders include 9 organizations and individuals, notably KIS Vietnam Securities Company holding 0.2% of the charter capital.

In its 2020 semi-annual report, KIS Vietnam valued its investment in Nanogen at VND11.6 billion, estimating that the total value of the company could reach about VND5,099 billion if it successfully develops the Covid-19 vaccine. However, to date, the Nanocovax vaccine has not been officially licensed for circulation.

According to an update from the National Enterprise Information Portal, from December 29, 2021, Mr. Ho Nhan is no longer the legal representative of Nanogen. The positions of Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director have been transferred to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van.

Currently, Ms. Van is the General Director and legal representative of the company. However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Son's sharing with the media, Mr. Ho Nhan continues to hold the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors at Nanogen.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van is the eldest daughter of the Son Kim family. She is the daughter of Ms. Nguyen Thi Son - the founder of Dai Thanh, a famous textile and garment enterprise since the 1950s.

Later, the third generation of the family developed into SonKim Group (since 1993), expanding its operations into real estate, retail and media, managing many international brands in the Vietnamese market.

In addition to the biotechnology sector, Mr. Ho Nhan also participates in financial investment. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Vina Securities Company (VinaSecurities) from April 2013 to September 2017. He was also a major shareholder of One World Services Joint Stock Company (ONW), owning up to 15.8% of shares as of November 2016.

Development of Nanocovax

Mr. Nhan is also known as one of the pioneering entrepreneurs in the field of biotechnology in Vietnam. His name is associated with the journey of researching and developing the Nanocovax vaccine - one of the first Covid-19 vaccine candidates produced by Vietnam.

Covid-19 vaccine Nanocovax (Photo: Nanogen).

On December 29, 2021, the National Council for Ethics in Biomedical Research held its third meeting to evaluate the protective efficacy of the Nanocovax vaccine developed by Nanogen Company (HCMC). The meeting was based on the latest updated phase 2 and 3 clinical trial data.

Trial results showed that the vaccine was effective in reducing the incidence of Covid-19, preventing severe progression and death, with a protective efficacy against death reaching 100%. However, the overall protective efficacy decreased over time, reaching an average of 52.1%, meeting the licensing standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

By the end of 2021, the National Council for Biomedical Research Ethics approved the protective efficacy of Nanocovax, paving the way for consideration of a marketing license. However, to date, this vaccine has not been officially licensed in Vietnam.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/chan-dung-ong-ho-nhan-cha-de-vaccine-nanocovax-vua-qua-doi-do-benh-tim-20250513105840181.htm