Africa: PAVM, CHAI & PATH Joint Site Visits With African Vaccine Manufacturers – Fact Finding to Inform Technical and Commercial Support Needed As Well As Near-Term Production Output Forecast

Benslimane, Morocco 17/01/2023. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has reinforced the importance of regional health security mechanisms to address global health issues in an agile and contextualized manner.

In the past two and half years since the beginning of the pandemic, Africa has seen the prospects for the local production of vaccines increase substantially. Most ambitiously, the Africa CDC’s Partnerships for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) has announced plans to ensure that 60% of all African vaccines required on the continent are African-made.

In that regards, the Africa CDC, The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI), and PATH have undertaken joint site visit to SENSYO Pharmatech (Manufacturer of vaccines and biotechnology products intended to serve the African market) based in Benslimane, Morocco with main objectives: on one hand to develop a detailed technical and commercial understanding of the vaccines and volumes to be commercially produced in Africa in the short, medium and long-term. This understanding will inform both the supply and demand side market-shaping mechanisms needed to create a sustainable market for African-made vaccines and on the other hand to understand the challenges individual firms face to support and accelerate high-potential plans or increase their probabilities of success.

SENSYO Pharmatech, with Recipharm as the lead strategic partner, being a pioneer in the vaccine manufacturing, vowed to strengthen the global capacity of biotherapeutic production and to respond to an undeniably increased and more complex demand.

The Senyso production facility and the speed at which it was completed are a true testament to the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco, Recipharm and the project investors to ensure Africa achieves greater self-sufficiency in vaccine production.

The sustainable growth of the African vaccine manufacturing industry requires striking a balance between the supply of African-made vaccines and the demand for such vaccines. Multiple stakeholders will need to work in unison to deliver on the ambition of localizing African vaccine manufacturing by 2040. This cooperation involves AU member state governments, local vaccine manufactures (existing and potential entrepreneurs), various AU agencies, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), NRAs, African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and African Research Institutions (ARIs).

About partners

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a continental autonomous Public Health agency of the African Union which supports Member States in their efforts to strengthen health systems and improve surveillance, emergency response, prevention and control of diseases.