The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday six African countries would be the first on the continent to receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines. The technology transfer project aims to help low- and middle-income countries produce mRNA vaccines on a scale and in accordance with international standards.
These countries are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. This type of mRNA is an advanced technology used by companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for the Covid-19 vaccine. The partnership has built mRNA vaccine production on a laboratory scale and is working towards commercial production. Training of the receiving countries will begin in March 2022.
"This is a mRNA technology designed in Africa, led by Africa and owned by Africa, with the support of Team Europe," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Covid-19 pandemic has shown more than any other event the way dependence on some companies to supply global public goods is limiting and dangerous. "In the medium to long term, the best way to address health emergencies and achieve universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to produce the health products they need," he said in a statement.
Who set up its global mRNA technology transfer center after the stockpiling of vaccines by rich countries and by companies that prioritize sales to governments that can pay the highest prices. This pushed low- and middle-income countries to the back of the queue for the Covid-19 vaccine.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged the GLOBAL vaccine distribution scheme COVAX and the GAVI vaccine alliance to buy vaccines from local manufacturing centers. "The lack of a market for vaccines produced in Africa is something that should concern all of us," he told a news conference on the sidelines of an EU-African Union summit in Brussels.
"Organizations like COVAX and GAVI need to commit to buying vaccines from local manufacturers rather than exiting established hubs," he said.
In June last year, who selected a consortium of South African companies to run its global mRNA hub. Afrigen Biologics then used the publicly available moderna vaccine sequence to produce its own version.
The first recipient of the technology transfer is a consortium partner and part of the state-owned South African vaccine manufacturer, Biovac, which will mass produce the vaccine after passing necessary safety and regulatory hurdles. The mRNA centre in South Africa has a global approach, serving not only Africa but also the world. To date, more than 20 countries have requested access to hub technology transfers.