A newly opened product development laboratory will enable the SA biopharmaceutical company Biovac to manufacture end-to-end vaccines, a 'major milestone' for drug substance production in Africa.
The South African biopharmaceutical company Biovac, on Thursday, 6 November, officially opened a "state-of-the-art" product development laboratory at its Cape Town facility, expanding the company's ability to develop vaccines and other therapeutics.
The new laboratory will enable Biovac to produce vaccines from the early stages of product development, to drug substance and product manufacturing, to the end product, according to the company.
Biovac's CEO, Dr Morena Makhoana, said the establishment of the laboratory was a "major milestone" for the company and vaccine innovation in Africa.
"There's a lot happening globally. There's a lot happening in vaccines. Our hope today is a demonstration, with this new product development opportunity that we're opening, of ... real physical action and execution," he said at the opening of the laboratory.
Biovac initially focused on distributing imported childhood vaccines in partnership with the National Department of Health, before progressing to collaborating with multinational companies to fill and finish vaccines.
"[Biovac] is now further advancing their vaccine development capability across more technology platforms, including mRNA, cell culture and the already...
