Nanogen - the 'trillion-dollar' COVID-19 vaccine company chaired by Mr. Ho Nhan

Mr. Ho Nhan participates in the research process of Nanocovax vaccine - Photo: DN

Before passing away due to heart disease, Mr. Ho Nhan was the chairman of the board of directors, general director, and founding shareholder of Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company. This is the unit that produces the COVID-19 vaccine called Nanocovax.

Foreign shareholder participation and disclosure of Nanogen's "trillion" valuation

According to the national business registration system, Mr. Ho Nhan is the legal representative of two enterprises, including: Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, Nanogen Lam Dong Pharmaceutical Production Company Limited.

In particular, Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company is the manufacturer of Nanocovax - the COVID-19 vaccine that is of great interest to the government, public opinion and investors in the years 2020-2022.

Data shows that Nanogen was established in 1997 with a registered capital of VND200 billion. The three founding shareholders include: Mr. Ho Nhan with 70% of shares, Mr. Nhan's wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van, holding 25%, and Mr. Ho Vu Thanh owning 5%.

Initially, this enterprise was owned by Mr. Ho Nhan and related family members. Then, in the updated data from 2017 to 2021, this company gradually appeared as a foreign institutional shareholder, mainly funds.

In 2017, there were two shareholders from the Cayman Islands, namely Stic Shariah Private Equity Fund III LP and Stic Private Equity Fund III LP with shares of 1.51% and 8.48% respectively.

By early 2019, Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company increased its capital to nearly 660 billion VND. At the same time, it welcomed a new foreign shareholder, HB Growth Ladder M&A Venture Fund (Korea), with 1.48% of capital.

By March 2021, Nanogen had undergone another capital increase, to more than VND 806 billion. At this time, Mr. Ho Nhan reduced his ownership ratio in the enterprise to 59.59%, Mr. Nhan's wife to 14.61%, and Mr. Ho Vu Thanh no longer held capital.

The number of "domestic" shares has been reduced, gradually replaced by a list of foreign shareholders with 7 organizations and 2 individuals. Of which, the 7 institutional shareholders include: HB Growth Ladder M&A Venture Fund with 1.2% of capital; Stic Shariah Private Equity Fund III LP (1.22%); Stic Private Equity Fund III LP (6.84%); Kiwoom - History 2018 - 8 Bio Investment Fund (2%); Next Science Co.Ltd. (9.27%); Kis Vietnam Securities Joint Stock Company (0.2%) and Company K Promising Service Fund (1.612%). The remaining two individuals hold the same 0.2% of Nanogen's capital, Mr. Shin Jae Won (Indonesia) and Kim Heenyeon (Indonesia).

The audited 2024 financial report of KIS Securities shows that the company spent nearly VND 11.6 billion for more than 162,800 shares of Nanogen, equivalent to a valuation of more than VND 71,000 per share.

Thus, it is estimated that Nanogen is valued at over VND5,000 billion at a time when the company is in the COVID-19 vaccine testing phase.

What is the scale of Nanogen and what is Mr. Ho Nhan's role?

According to self-declaration, Nanogen has 4 factories specializing in the production of pharmaceuticals - cosmetics, biological products, pharmaceutical chemicals, and intravenous fluids; of which three factories in Ho Chi Minh City have an area of ^{​​39,000m2} and one factory of 34,000m2 in Lam Dong.

This company's annual production capacity reaches about 50 million products, distributed to more than 15 countries.

Mr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training, Ministry of Health (currently the Director), said that the Nanocovax vaccine researched and produced by Nanogen is the first COVID-19 vaccine produced by Vietnam to be tested on humans since December 2020.

When developing this product, Nanogen's existing factory system can immediately produce 50,000 - 100,000 doses/batch (20-30 million doses/year) and gradually increase to 100 million doses/year to meet domestic and export demand.

In addition to Nanogen, in October 2016, Mr. Ho Nhan also established Nanogen Lam Dong Pharmaceutical Production Company Limited.

Not only famous in the field of biotechnology, Mr. Nhan was also a member of the Board of Directors of VinaSecurities Securities Company from April 2013 to September 2017.

According to information from Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, Dr. Ho Nhan was born in 1966 in Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.

He has a solid academic background with a doctorate from the University of Arizona (USA). With the desire to contribute to his homeland, he returned to Vietnam in 2006, starting the journey to build a foundation of modern pharmaceutical biotechnology science and has achieved many important achievements.

Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company under his leadership as Chairman of the Board of Directors has become one of the pioneering companies in pharmaceutical biotechnology production in Vietnam.

Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Ho Nhan and his team made Nanogen the first private unit to research and develop the Nanocovax COVID-19 vaccine in Vietnam - a proud milestone demonstrating his sense of responsibility and dedication to public health and the future of medicine in the country.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nanogen-hang-vac-xin-covid-19-nghin-ti-do-ong-ho-nhan-tung-lam-chu-tich-20250513105545796.htm