(ANSA) - FRANKFURT, OCTOBER 26 - The German company BioNTech, manufacturer of the Pfizer vaccine with the US pharmaceutical giant of the same name, announced today that it intends to build a plant for the production of doses in Africa next year.
It is not clear where the center will be located, but BioNTech has specified that it is working with the authorities of Rwanda and Senegal and plans to start construction "in mid-2022".
The plant will initially have the capacity to produce about 50 million doses of the vaccine per year, the German company said in August, which in August revealed its intention to build "sustainable vaccine production capacities" in Rwanda and Senegal, giving rise not only to doses. anti-Covid, but also against malaria and tuberculosis. "We will work together to build a regional manufacturing network to support African vaccines produced for Africa," said Uğur Şahin, co-founder of BioNTech today.
In July, Pfizer and BioNTech announced their partnership with the Biovac Group for the Covid vaccine in Cape Town, South Africa, starting next year.
Currently only 1 percent of vaccines used in Africa are produced on the continent.
The African Union (AU) wants to bring this figure to 60 percent by 2040. Earlier this month, US biotechnology company Moderna also announced plans for a vaccine plant in Africa.
(HANDLE).