Senegal may start making vaccines by 2022

Senegal could begin producing Covid-19 vaccines next year under an agreement with Belgian biotech group Univercells aimed at boosting Africa’s drug-manufacturing ambitions. According to a report in The Herald, as wealthy countries begin to reopen after securing vaccine supplies early, African nations are still struggling to acquire shots. On a continent of 1.3bn, only about 7m have been fully vaccinated. The collaboration highlights the opportunities created by a global push to channel money and technology towards production on a continent that makes only 1% of the vaccines it requires. Univercells announced the signing of a letter of intent for collaboration with the Institut Pasteur in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, in April. The source shared details of the proposal, which were not made public. Under the agreement, the Institut Pasteur would use vaccine production technology developed by Univercells to supply Covid-19 vaccine shots to countries across West Africa. The institute would initially begin packaging and distributing vaccines produced by Univercells in Belgium early next year. Univercells CIO Kate Antrobus confirmed that it could send vaccine doses to Senegal in early next year. Timing depends on Univercells securing regulatory approval for a vaccine production site in Belgium. Antrobus said that was expected any day now.