By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
US biotech billionaire Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong on Wednesday launched a plant that will produce a billion Covid-19 vaccine doses in Cape Town by 2025, fulfilling a longtime plan to help bring greater health equity to the country of his birth.
Africa struggled to secure vaccines while wealthy countries were already giving their populations shots. While doses have started flowing to the region, the continent is seeking ways to ensure it isn’t left behind again.
In May, Soon-Shiong said he would give an initial R3 billion ($195 million) to South Africa to help with the transfer of new technology for Covid-19 vaccines and other therapies, including for diseases such as cancer, HIV and tuberculosis.
Through the establishment of NANTSA last year, Soon-Shiong started the process. He is also backing a Covid-19 vaccine candidate that he sees as having potential as a universal booster for other pandemic shots.
This launch comes after an announcement made by Soon-Shiong in September last year of an ambitious initiative to build capacity for advanced health care in Africa.
NantSA, a division of NantWorks, and The AAAH Coalition aim to accelerate domestic production of pharmaceuticals, biologics and vaccines that will reach patients across the African continent.
Soon-Shiong,has stressed the need for South Africa to become self-reliant in terms of local biopharmaceutical production.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the newly launched vaccine manufacturing facility campus at Brackengate in Cape Town will usher in a new era in healthcare, medicines and vaccines for the African continent.
“It is within the walls of this facility, through the networks that are being built, through the advanced skills that are being developed, and through the other initiatives across our continent, that our vision for vaccine, diagnostics and drug manufacturing in Africa will steadily take form,” Ramaphosa said.
The President said the vaccine manufacturing facility will allow Africa to no longer rely heavily on other countries and organisations to supply its people with vaccines and other much needed medication.
“Africa should no longer be the last in line to access vaccines against pandemics. Africa should no longer go cap in hand to the Western world begging for vaccines. We will stand on our own. This we are determined to do and this facility is proof of that,” he said.
Ramaphosa warned that although the continental body has done much in the supply of medical equipment and the acquisition of at least 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for the continent, more work needs to be done.
“We need more vaccine doses, we need better therapeutics, and we need to protect the people of our continent against future variants and future pandemics. We have seen that if we want to safeguard the health of our people, we need to have the means, the technology and the resources to produce vaccines and treatments for all the diseases that afflict the people of our continent.
“This NantSA facility will make a vital contribution to this mission, complementing the work already being done by companies like Aspen, Biovac and Afrigen here in South Africa and several other companies in other parts of the continent,” he said.
The goal is to produce a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the year 2025.
Video Courtesy of Presidency.