Pfizer and BioNTech develop plan to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine in Africa
Pfizer and BioNTech announced the signing of a letter of intent with The Biovac Institute (Pty), a biopharmaceutical company based in Cape Town, South Africa, to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for distribution within the African Union.
Biovac will perform manufacturing and distribution activities within Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s global COVID-19 vaccine supply chain and manufacturing network.
Pfizer and BioNTech expect that Biovac’s Cape Town facility will be incorporated into the vaccine supply chain by the end of 2021. Biovac will obtain drug substance from facilities in Europe, and manufacturing of finished doses will commence in 2022. At full operational capacity, the annual production will exceed 100 million finished doses annually. All doses will exclusively be distributed within the 55 member states that make up the African Union.
African Union and the COVAX 92 Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) countries, as well as a direct supply agreement with the COVAX facility for 40 million doses.
