SENEGAL – The Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD), a biomedical research center in Senegal, has initiated a new program to advance the development of a measles and rubella (MR) vaccine for manufacture within the country.
IPD is a Senegalese private foundation in the public interest with the mission to advance public health and wellbeing in Africa by conducting research, providing training and education, sharing scientific knowledge, and advancing biotechnology.
The Dakar-based facility received a funding grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will be used to support IDP in producing the MR vaccine for essential, routine immunization campaigns in low- and middle-income countries and for outbreak and catch-up campaigns.
“Production will be transferred to the state-of-the-art MADIBA facility, a regional manufacturing hub for COVID-19 and other epidemic vaccines with a capacity to produce 300 million doses for use in Africa,” the facility announced in an official statement.
According to IDP, the grant by the Gates Foundation will deploy Batavia’s Hip-Vax intensified production process for GMP measles and rubella material and Univercells’ NevoLine™ technology platform to accelerate manufacturing and affordable access to essential and epidemic vaccines in Africa.
Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall, CEO of IPD, said: “By manufacturing affordable measles and rubella vaccines and diagnostics in Africa, the region will be one step closer to a diversified manufacturing landscape for epidemic preparedness and improving the supply chain for essential vaccines for routine immunization.”
He further said that the local manufacturing of vaccines in Senegal will help countries in the region build autonomy and reach every child with lifesaving vaccines.
“We are privileged to be able to work with Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance this innovative vaccine technology with a key manufacturing partner,” noted Dr Christopher Yallop, COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Batavia Biosciences.
Dr. Yallop emphasized that their HIP-Vax manufacturing process technology, developed on the NevoLine™ platform, is designed to deliver vaccines at high yield and very low cost, increasing affordability and availability.
José Castillo, Co-Founder of Univercells, commented: “We are honored to partner with Institut Pasteur de Dakar and Batavia Biosciences, and to participate in this historic initiative that will increase access to the measles and rubella vaccines on the African continent and across the globe.”
He highlighted that supporting and nurturing biomanufacturing autonomy is at the heart of Univercells’ mission while expressing his excitement that their technology will help enable progress towards regional autonomy.
“Knowing that our breakthrough vaccine manufacturing platform NevoLine™, initially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2016, will now help accelerate the manufacture of vaccines in Africa, is very exciting,” Castillo concluded.
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