Berlin, Feb 16, (dpa/GNA) – German vaccine maker BioNTech, announced plans on Wednesday to deliver mobile production facilities in pre-fabricated containers to Africa with the aim of manufacturing mRNA vaccines locally.
The firm, which along with pharma giant Pfizer produced the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the European Union and the United States, said it planned to deliver the production facilities to Rwanda, Senegal and possibly South Africa.
They would enable the production of coronavirus vaccines as well as potentially malaria or tuberculosis vaccines in the future.
“Each BioNTainer is a clean room which BioNTech equips with state-of-the-art manufacturing solutions. Together, two modules require 800 square metres of space and offer an estimated initial capacity of for example up to 50 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine each year,” the firm said in a press release.
The first BioNTainer is expected to arrive in Africa in the second half of 2022, the firm said.
Production is expected to start 12 months after delivery to the destination.
The Mainz-based company presented the containers on Wednesday on the grounds of its plant in Marburg, in the state of Hesse.
Among those present were the presidents of Rwanda, Ghana and Senegal – Paul Kagame, Nana Akufo-Addo and Macky Sall – as well as the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and German Development Minister Svenja Schulze.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the initiative as “a real trailblazer in our global fight against the pandemic.”
Akuga-Addo said it was a “momentous day for Mother Africa. Another step in the process towards self-reliance has been taken.”
GNA