State-backed vaccine manufacturer Biovac has received a new lease of life, inking new deals with multinational pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and South Korean firm EuBiologics to produce shots for polio and meningitis.
It has also received a €10m commitment from the French government to accelerate its work on an oral cholera vaccine.
The deals are not only expected to help soften the blow of last year’s loss of a crucial tender to supply the SA government with shots against pneumococcal disease, which forced Biovac to lay off 80 staff, but also to help improve Africa’s health security.
The Covid-19 pandemic drove home the risks of Africa’s reliance on imported medical supplies, as African nations were left last in line when vaccines, tests and treatments were in short supply.
“These are all export-driven deals,” said Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana.
“If SA wants them, we will make them available, but Biovac is intent that all current and future deals will be for export markets. It will in time mitigate what happened last year,” he said, referring to the health department’s decision to opt for cheaper pneumoccoal vaccines made by Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla rather than those produced by Biovac.
The announcements came as the vaccine alliance Gavi launched the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) at the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation in Paris.
The AVMA is a $1.2bn financing scheme to boost vaccine production in Africa, the culmination of a campaign by the AU to reduce reliance on imports. It will provide milestone payments and pay a premium for shots, but stops short of providing the advance market commitments the AU initially sought.
The AU is aiming for 60% of Africa’s vaccines to be made on the continent by 2040.
The partnership with Sanofi will make Biovac the first African producer of an inactivated polio vaccine, said Makhoana. Sanofi will provide the active pharmaceutical ingredients, and Biovac will formulate, fill, finish and distribute the vaccine under its own branding to more than 40 Gavi-supported African countries.
Sanofi vice-president Thomas Triomphe said the manufacturing agreement was key to enabling Biovac’s capabilities for future international tenders, and to support efforts to eradicate polio.
“With the Covid-19 pandemic, many routine paediatric vaccination programmes were halted or disrupted. Catching up will be key to preventing a rise in many countries worldwide,” he said.
Biovac’s agreement with EuBiologics builds on a memorandum of understanding signed in September 2023 for the technology transfer of a pentavalent meningitis vaccine, primarily aimed at the “meningitis belt”, which stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia.
“I am hopeful that this will lead to an improvement in global public health, capacity building of an African manufacturer and, most importantly, impact on people’s lives against meningococcal diseases in Africa,” said EuBiologics CEO Baik Yeong-ok.
Biovac signed a licensing and technology transfer deal with the nonprofit International vaccine Institute in 2022 to develop and make oral cholera vaccines for export.
There is currently a global shortage of cholera vaccines, as there was only one manufacturer, and Biovac was confident there would be high demand for its shot once production ramped up, said Makhoana.
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