{"id":118324,"date":"2021-07-16T11:34:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T11:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=118324"},"modified":"2021-07-16T11:34:18","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T11:34:18","slug":"thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Thai hospital tycoon sticks to guns on vaccine claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand\u2019s Thonburi Healthcare Group Pcl (THG) doubled down on its outspoken chairman\u2019s claim to be buying Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on Friday, helping its share price rise despite denials by both drugmakers.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: Boon Vanasin, Chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group, talks to a journalist during an interview with Reuters at his office in Bangkok, Thailand, July 6, 2021. REUTERS\/Artorn Pookasook<\/figcaption>

Dr. Boon Vanasin\u2019s claim that his group, a more than $800 million private medicine empire, was close to signing a deal for 20 million Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines to import to Thailand was swiftly denied on Thursday by both companies, one day after a government agency filed a defamation suit against Boon, 82.<\/p>\n

On Friday, THG stuck to its guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cTHG has agreed to buy the vaccine and is currently in the process of filing documents with overseas dealers,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Boon even told local media an agreement would be signed by Friday afternoon. By close of business, there was still no evidence of any deal.<\/p>\n

THG shares closed 1.59% higher, having been up as much as 4% at one point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still unclear whether Boon was insincere, the victim of a scam or – as he asserts – in the process of a brilliant fix to Thailand\u2019s desperate vaccine needs.<\/p>\n

Boon insists a deal was in the works through a government agency, which he declined to name.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not doing it directly,\u201d he told Reuters.<\/p>\n

Still, his comments on Thursday added about 1.5 billion baht ($45.80 million) to THG\u2019s market capitalisation, bring it to 26.8 billion baht ($818.32 million), Refinitiv Eikon data shows.<\/p>\n

Thailand so far has only vaccinated 5 percent of its population of more than 66 million. It has been administering China\u2019s Sinovac vaccine and the AstraZeneca\u2019s shots but the government seeking other imported doses.<\/p>\n

Boon, the Thai word for merit, has been on a quest for COVID-19 vaccines for months, arguing that the government should not monopolise supply and calling the vaccine policy \u201ccomplacent and reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, he tried to import vaccines, but was unsuccessful and later lodged a protest..<\/p>\n

Months later state drugmaker, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), said it would import five million doses of Moderna vaccine for private hospitals.<\/p>\n

Demand for mRNA vaccines in Thailand is growing. Pre-orders for Moderna vaccines through private hospitals were snapped up in a hurry.<\/p>\n

Boon criticised the GPO for its process and on Wednesday the GPO slapped a defamation suit against the John Hopkins-trained physician. He said he welcomed the complaint because evidence and documents could be revealed in court.<\/p>\n

Boon founded Thonburi hospital in 1976 and oversaw its expansion into a network of seven hospitals with 963 registered beds. He took the company public in 2017.<\/p>\n

THG, which also operates hospitals in Cambodia and Myanmar, booked losses of 215 million baht in the first quarter this year, taking a hit from the pandemic and drop off in medical tourists.<\/p>\n

The group is smaller than rivals like Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Pcl, and before the pandemic, its chairman began to carve out a niche. In 2017, he launched a $500 million \u2018medical city\u2019 for the elderly called Jin Wellbeing County, targeting Thailand\u2019s ageing population and foreign retirees.<\/p>\n

($1 = 32.7500 baht)<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand\u2019s Thonburi Healthcare Group Pcl (THG) doubled down on its outspoken chairman\u2019s claim to be buying Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on Friday, helping its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":118323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThai hospital tycoon sticks to guns on vaccine claims - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thai hospital tycoon sticks to guns on vaccine claims - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand\u2019s Thonburi Healthcare Group Pcl (THG) doubled down on its outspoken chairman\u2019s claim to be buying Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on Friday, helping its [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-16T11:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/thai-hospital-tycoon-sticks-to-guns-on-vaccine-claims\/\",\"name\":\"Thai hospital tycoon sticks to guns on vaccine claims - 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