Pfizer, BioNTech Partner with Biovac for COVID-19 Vax in Africa

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE signed a letter of intent with The Biovac Institute, a Cape Town-based, South African biopharmaceutical company, to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for distribution within the African Union.

Biovac will perform manufacturing and distribution activities within Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s global COVID-19 vaccine supply chain and manufacturing network, which will now span three continents and include more than 20 manufacturing facilities. To facilitate Biovac’s involvement in the process, technical transfer, on-site development and equipment installation activities will begin immediately.

Pfizer and BioNTech expect that Biovac’s Cape Town facility will be incorporated into the vaccine supply chain by the end of 2021. Biovac will obtain drug substance from facilities in Europe, and manufacturing of finished doses will begin in 2022. At full operational capacity, the annual production will exceed 100 million finished doses annually. All doses will exclusively be distributed within the 55 member states that make up the African Union.