The African Union’s Vision 2040—an initiative designed to ensure that health, education and other basic needs for children are met—has established an objective to produce 60% of the continent’s vaccines locally by 2040.
To help make that lofty goal possible, the AU has lined up a $45 million financing package from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the African Development Bank.
The funding will expand the capacity of Senegal’s Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) to produce shots at its vaccine manufacturing hub MADIBA. It also will create jobs and spur economic growth.
In a ceremony on Friday, which included Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the organizations inked the deal.
“(The partnership) demonstrates IFC’s commitment to strengthening Africa’s health infrastructure. By enabling local vaccine production, we are building a more resilient healthcare system to better address current and future challenges,” Makhtar Diop, the managing director of the IFC, said in a release.
The investment goes to IPD’s subsidiary VaxSen and—in additional to boosting production capacity and flexibility—it will “support local supply chains and establish a robust network” in alignment with Vision 2040, which endeavors to reduce Africa’s dependence on foreign vaccine sources and strengthen its health system.
“This financing marks a pivotal moment in delivering sustainable access to vaccines across Africa,” VaxSen CEO Assietou Diouf said.
In 2022, IPD collaborated with CDMO Batavia Biosciences and biologics manufacturing specialist Univercells, with funding assistance from the Gates Foundation, to bolster VaxSen’s ability to produce measles and rubella vaccines.
Also in 2022, IDP said it would team up with medtech player Satio to advance low-cost shot candidates based on intradermal delivery patch technology.
(Fierce Pharma)
