Pfizer and BioNTech Partner With Biovac for COVID-19 Vaccine Production in Africa
Pfizer and BioNTech have signed a letter of intent with South African company Biovac to manufacture and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine within the African Union. Manufacturing is set to begin in Cape Town in 2022.
NEW YORK & MAINZ, Germany – Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE announced a collaboration with The Biovac Institute (Biovac), a South African biopharmaceutical company, to manufacture and distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the African Union. The partnership expands the vaccine's global manufacturing network to three continents.
Biovac's Cape Town facility will undertake manufacturing and distribution activities, with technical transfer and equipment installation beginning immediately. The facility will receive drug substance from European manufacturing sites, with finished dose production scheduled to commence in 2022. Upon reaching full operational capacity, the annual output is expected to exceed 100 million doses.
All doses produced through this collaboration will be distributed exclusively to the 55 member states of the African Union. Pfizer and BioNTech selected Biovac based on their existing relationship since 2015, which covered sterile formulation, fill, finish, and distribution of the Prevenar 13 vaccine, demonstrating Biovac's established capabilities.
To date, Pfizer and BioNTech have shipped over one billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 100 countries worldwide. The companies remain committed to equitable and affordable access, with plans to supply billions of doses to low- and middle-income countries through 2021 and 2022.