Following on from the coronavirus vaccines, currently under conditional marketing authorisation, the German biotech company BioNTech plans to produce messenger RNA vaccines against malaria and tuberculosis in Africa.
The news was made public on Friday 27 August via a press release, following a meeting in Berlin the same day between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EIB President Werner Hoyer, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Senegalese President Macky Sall, and BioNTech CEO and co-founder Uğur Şahin.
The ‘Vaccine Equity for Africa’ event was organised by the kENUP Foundation on behalf of BioNTech, on the sidelines of the G20 Compact with Africa Conference organised by Angela Merkel on investment in Africa. It resulted in a joint communiqué affirming BioNTech’s intention to manufacture all vaccines resulting from the development of its malaria and tuberculosis vaccine candidates in Africa.
The German company has begun evaluating manufacturing options in Rwanda and Senegal, at the same location as the future WHO vaccine production centres (see EUROPE 12759/21). In the meantime, it should be possible to develop BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine in local facilities for distribution in Africa. Other vaccine and pharmaceutical production facilities may also be established in these hubs.
“This cooperation is an important moment for Africa and a great step towards vaccine equity. mRNA vaccines are cutting-edge technology. And it’s a powerful sign that we are all joining forces to make it possible to produce them in Africa”, said Ursula von der Leyen. She added: “Team Europe [The EU, its Member States and financial institutions] is investing at least €1 billion to facilitate manufacturing and access to vaccines in Africa. And we are proud to be a partner in this endeavour”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)