City firm selected to manufacture Covid vaccine

PINELANDS-based Biovac, a specialist biotech company is set to become the first company in Africa to produce an mRNA-based vaccine after it was appointed to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine for distribution on the continent.

Biovac is set to immediately commence technical transfer activities, which includes on-site development and equipment installation activities.

The facility will obtain drug substances from facilities in Europe, and manufacturing of finished doses will commence next year.

At full operational capacity, the annual Covid-19 vaccine production will exceed 100 million finished doses, and all doses will exclusively be distributed within the 55 member states that make up the African Union (AU).

Biovac expects the facility will be brought into the Pfizer-BioNTech supply chain by the end of the year.

President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the announcement as a breakthrough in the protection of African nations against Covid-19.

The Department of Science and Innovation holds, on behalf of government, a 47.5% share in Biovac.

Speaking in his capacity as African Union Champion on Covid-19, Ramaphosa said: “Today's agreement will contribute significantly to health security and sustainability on our continent, which currently has the least access to vaccination in the world.”

“This partnership demonstrates what we can achieve when the state sector and the private sector craft a shared vision and pool resources for the greater good of society. This collaboration recognises the talent and technology that exists on our continent that can be harnessed in our irreversible march of sustainable and inclusive development.”

Biovac chief executive Dr Morena Makhoana said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Pfizer and BioNTech to produce and distribute the PfizerBioNTech Covid- 19 Vaccine within Africa.

This is a testament to the long-standing relationship we have had with Pfizer through the Pneumo-conjugate vaccine. We believe this collaboration will create an opportunity to more broadly distribute vaccine doses to people in harder-to-reach communities, especially those on the African continent.”

Pfizer chief executive and chair Albert Bourla said their goal is to provide fair and equitable access to the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine to all.

“We will continue to explore and pursue opportunities to bring new partners into our supply chain network, including in Latin America, to further accelerate access of Covid19 vaccines,” Bourla said.

Biovac has a long-standing relationship with Pfizer that commenced with local distribution activities in 2008 of their Pneumoconjugate vaccine to the Department of Health.

This evolved into a technology transfer agreement of the vaccine, which has been successfully concluded.

Higher Education Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said the primary goal had always been to ensure through Biovac that South Africa and Africa became active participants in the global vaccine-manufacturing value chain.

“We have chosen a backward integration strategy, meaning we are moving backwards from packaging, fill/finish and then to actually manufacture the active pharmaceutical ingredients and to develop from scratch our very own vaccines.

“I am pleased that in this journey, it is not the first time that Pfizer has shown confidence in our vision and commitment. We have just concluded another Tech Transfer for Prevnar 13 vaccine with Pfizer.”

Strive Masiyiwa, AU Special Envoy on Covid-19 and member of the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, also welcomed the BiovacPfizer initiative.

“The only way to guarantee Africa's access to vaccines now and in the future is through this type of strategic manufacturing partnerships, which we welcome greatly.”