Rwanda is set to inaugurate the BioNTech vaccine manufacturing plant in December, following the completion of its construction works, according to Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health.
In an exclusive interview with The New Times, Nsanzimana said that there has been progress in setting up the facility since the arrival of the first BioNTainer -- facilities equipped to manufacture a range of mRNA-based vaccines -- in March and more have been coming in the country.
The manufacturing plant for mRNA-based vaccines with ISO-sized shipping containers is being built in the Kigali Special Economic Zone located at Masoro-Munini, Gasabo District, in a section earmarked for biopharma manufacturing.
"When you build something, you show the results and everyone is expecting the factory to be launched. That will happen before the end of this year to kick-off operations in research of vaccines and therapeutics, and vaccine manufacturing, though it will not be instant production as it's a process that takes time," Nsanzimana said.
At the ground breaking ceremony of the plant in June 2022, officials said that production of vaccines is expected to commence approximately within 12 to 18 months after their installation.
The development also includes the journey of Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to reach Maturity Level 3 recognition by the World Health Organization, which will strengthen it to build a regulatory environment that will capacitate quality assurance of pharmaceutical products, as well as local production of vaccines.
Nsanzimana noted that there is ongoing construction of a fully-fledged Rwanda FDA laboratory, which will be part of an ecosystem of factory production, regulatory systems and government will to create an environment for medical, pharmaceutical research and clinical trials.
Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) is a next-generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company exploits a wide array of computational discovery and therapeutic drug platforms for the rapid development of novel biopharmaceuticals.
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BioNTech's first modular factory is made out of shipping containers. Dubbed a BioNTainer, the factory was built in Europe and inspected by the company's manufacturing experts.
Roughly, each BioNTainer consists of one drug substance and one formulation module for a total footprint of about 800 square metres.
The move to scale up vaccine production and enhance health systems resilience on the continent with such facility will be implemented in Senegal and South Africa.
