Africa Expands Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has revived the drive by governments in Africa to expand local pharmaceutical manufacturing so as to increase access to affordable quality medicines for the continent’s 1.3 billion people.

Currently, Africa relies on imports for up to 90% to meet its requirement for vaccines and supply of essential medicines such as those for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

The lack of adequate local pharmaceutical manufacturing capability has been blamed for the low access to COVID-19 vaccines with the vaccination process getting bogged down by delays in delivery of imported vaccines to counter the pandemic that by 07 March 2022 had been reported in 47 countries, infected 8.1 million people and killed 169,000 others. (1)

By the time the first COVID-19 case was reported in Africa in February 2020, the continent had in place approximately 600 essential medicine manufacturers and less than 10 vaccine producers, many of them in downstream value chain operations. (2)

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) says nearly all feedstock for manufacturing of therapeutic medicines in Africa is sourced from foreign markets with only three vaccine manufacturers having drug substance capabilities. (ibid)

By early 2022, the continent had received approximately 500 million vaccines, an equivalent of 50% of what Africa requires to vaccinate at least 900 million of its people or 70% of the population, as set out by the World Health Organization.

Initiatives have been unveiled in recent months to bolster the imported vaccines including launch of vaccine manufacturing within the continent with the focus on production being in South Africa and Senegal.

In February 2022, WHO had announced it was collaborating with South Africa to develop and build its global mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in the African country. (3)

This initiative,  which is being led a consortium comprising Medicines Patent Pool, Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation, the South African Medical Research Council, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, supports fast-tracking of manufacturing of next-generation vaccines in Africa.

The WHO-initiated mRNA hub in South Africa will collaborate with initiatives such as the recently commissioned COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing facility in Cape Town being developed by US-based NantWorks LLC, through its in South Africa, NantSA.

NantWorks LLC says the mRNA hub will provide the RNA enzymes needed in the production of at least one billion vaccines by 2025.  The continent’s share of vaccine production is currently estimated at a mere 1% of the global manufacturing capacity. (4)

 NantWorks LLC facility will initially receive vaccine making technology and materials from the parent company’s California headquarters. (5)

“We need more vaccine doses, we need better therapeutics, and we need to protect the people of our continent against future variants and future pandemics,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, during the opening of the NantSA vaccine facility in Cape Town, South Africa. (ibid)

 “Emerging African manufacturers need technology partners to develop their skills base and assist with technology transfer,” he said. (ibid)

NantWorks LLC founder Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who is also a scientist and inventor of the first human nanoparticle chemotherapeutic agent Abraxane, said the new vaccine making facility will utilize “human capital of South Africans to build 21st century medicine." (ibid)

But even before the opening of the NantSA vaccine facility, South Africa-based global specialty and branded pharmaceutical company, Aspen Pharmacare, had started producing Johnson & Johnson vaccine while the government-owned Biovac is said to be finalizing plans to launch production of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine later in 2022.

The initiative to bolster vaccine production in Africa has attracted participation from international agencies, medical supplies companies and pharmaceutical companies playing various roles in ensuring the continent’s objective of achieving at least 60% vaccine production by 2040 is achieved.

A key player has been the Vaccine Manufacturing Working Group (VMWG), a grouping bringing together Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi-Arabia, and the United States. The group is supporting the establishment of a global mRNA vaccine Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa as part of its work plan. (6)

The plan also includes “facilitating the unblocking of general supply issues particularly in bolstering incentives and backstopping measures to encourage manufacturers and suppliers to reduce safety stocking during pandemic and to provide input supplies to other COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers as possible, such as in case of failed vaccines.” (ibid)

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REFERENCES;

1. https://who.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/0c9b3a8b68d0437a8cf28581e9c063a9

2.  https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/files/2021-09/Concept%20Note%20IDDA%20III%20High%20Level%20Event%20UNGA-converted%20%281%29.pdf

3. https://www.who.int/news/item/11-02-2022-south-africa-s-mrna-hub-progress-is-foundation-for-self-reliance

4.  https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-official-launch-nant-sa-vaccine-manufacturing-campus-19-jan-0

5. https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/remarks-president-cyril-ramaphosa-official-launch-nant-sa-vaccine-manufacturing-campus%2C-brackengate-business-park%2C-brackenfel

6. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/act-accelerator/act-accelerator-facilitation-council-vmwg-report-to-the-g20.pdf?sfvrsn=7b203ca9_5&download=true

About the Author:

With great honor and pleasure, PharmaSources.com has now invited Shem Oirere as one of the original writers. He graduated from the University of South Africa with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and also holds a Diploma in Journalism from the London School of Journalism. He previously worked for the Kenya Times, Nation Media Group and The People Daily over a twenty-year span as a business writer and Sub-editor. He wishes to share a view of the scenes behind Africa's latest pharma market trends with the rest of the world.