Aspen Pharmacare, a pioneer of local, private pharmaceutical production in Africa, is moving more firmly into vaccines. Champions of local production in the global south are watching.
Having inked a 10-year deal in 2022 with the India-based Serum Institute, Aspen will manufacture and distribute four vaccines across Africa, though a timeline for distribution is not yet set. In December, Aspen announced it is also getting support for vaccine development from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to the tune of $30 million.
The agreements, Aspen’s Senior Executive for Strategic Trade Development Stavros Nicolaou told Devex, are a response to the imbalance in access to COVID-19 vaccines and the resulting call from the African Union for more than 60% of the continent’s vaccine supply to be developed, produced, and supplied by African manufacturers by 2040. The continent currently imports 99% of its vaccines.