Akufo-Addo cuts sod for the construction of a $122 million DEK vaccine manufacturing plant

President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has cut the sod for the commencement of construction works on a 122-million-dollar project which upon completion, will become Ghana’s first vaccine manufacturing plant.

The plant will be a “fill and finish” site that imports components of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines for processing, packaging, and distribution nationwide and within the West Africa region as well as for the manufacture of Malaria vaccines.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for the project which is under the private sector-led consortium, DEKS Vaccines Limited, at Medie in the Ga East district of the Greater Accra Region, today Tuesday 18 April 2023, President Akufo-Addo said happenings around the global manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines was a clear warning to African countries to rethink it vaccine manufacturing capabilities.

The President observed that “vaccine nationalism that was played out by the developed world with the roll out of COVID-19 vaccines meant that we (Africans) had to take urgent, critical steps towards making sure that never again would we (Africans) be victims of the international vaccine order. It was imperative that we took our destiny into our own hands”.

To this end, President Akufo-Addo said his administration took steps to formulate a concrete plan of action towards domestic vaccine development and manufacturing.

The plan of action according to the President, led to the establishment in July 2021, of the National Vaccine Institute (NVI) which attracted seed funding of $25 million dollars from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

The President added that some two months ago on 14 February 2023, the national vaccine institute bill was enacted by Parliament for which he has given accent and whose board of directors will soon be out doored.

All of these efforts the President noted, have brought the country to the point where the actual construction of a vaccine manufacturing plant is commencing.

Together with Rwanda, and Senegal, President Akufo-Addo indicated that Ghana is venturing into vaccine manufacturing and the three countries are “determined to become vaccine manufacturing hubs in the south of the Sahara”.

“We want to achieve self-sufficiency in vaccine production to meet future national, regional and continental needs for health security. We shall not then in the future be at the mercy of vaccine nationalism and geopolitics” President Akufo-Addo said.

“In a short term of two years, DEK Vaccines Limited will fill, finish and package COVID-19 and other vaccines I have enumerated. The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) will also establish a vaccine non-release system and will strengthen further research and development for vaccine production” he added.

Among others, President Akufo-Addo noted that “one of the vaccines to be produced by DEK is the Malaria vaccine” which has been approved for use in Ghana.

“As you may know, Ghana, on 28 March 2023, became the first country to grant approval to the R21 Malaria vaccine developed by the Oxford University in the United Kingdom and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India to be used in Ghana,” Akufo-Addo said.

“The approval was granted following an extensive series of reviews and further peer reviews of the non-clinical and clinical quality paths of the vaccine product development dossier.

“The R21 vaccine has been approved for use for the immunization of children age 5 months to 36 months against Malaria” he added.

Managing Director of DEK Vaccines Ltd, Dr Kofi Nsiah-Poku, in his remarks, stated that DEK vaccines limited is a 122-million-dollar investment with the capacity to manufacture 600 million doses of various vaccines annually.

Vaccine manufacturing, Mr Nsiah-Poku indicated “is the technology and capital intensive” and in line with the World Health Organization’s directive to all countries to prepare for a future pandemic, the DEK factory is designed to have a reserve capacity for any emergency such as a future pandemic.

He added that the consortium, comprising the Ghana government, the European Union and DEK Vaccine, is committed to ensuring that it completes the construction of the plant by the end of the year 2024 in order for vaccine production to start in 2025.

By uniquenewsgh.com