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Thursday, March 28th, 2024

WHO support South African consortium to establish first COVID vaccine tech transfer hub

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The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners announced they are working with a South African consortium to establish a COVID mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub.

The consortium, comprising Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of African universities, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC), will negotiate details on efforts to scale up production and access to the COVID vaccines with the Government of South Africa, as well as public and private partners inside South Africa and around the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the full extent of the vaccine gap between developed and developing economies and how that gap can severely undermine global health security,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said. “This landmark initiative is a major advance in the international effort to build vaccine development and manufacturing capacity that will put Africa on a path to self-determination. South Africa welcomes the opportunity to host a vaccine technology transfer hub and to build on the capacity and expertise that already exists on the continent to contribute to this effort.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of producing vaccines locally to address health emergencies and increase access, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

The announcement follows an announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that his country would support efforts in Africa to scale up the local manufacturing capacity of COVID-19 vaccines during a recent trip to South Africa.

“Today is a great day for Africa. It is also a great day for all those who work towards a more equitable access to health products. I am proud for Biovac and our South African partners to have been selected by WHO, as France has been supporting them for years,” Macron said. “This initiative is the first of a long list to come, that we will keep supporting, with our partners, united in the belief that acting for global public goods is the fight of the century and that it cannot wait.”

Technology transfer hubs are training facilities where technology is established on an industrial scale and clinical development is performed. Manufacturers from low- and middle-income countries can receive the necessary training and licensing to the technology there. WHO and its partners bring the production know-how, quality control, and licenses to the facility, which is then transferred to multiple recipients.