A new effort to foster vaccine production in Africa will incentivize the use of technologies that support efficient, low-cost manufacturing, according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which brings together governments, the WHO, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, and industry. Gavi recently launched the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), describing it as a $1.2 billion financing mechanism designed to foster vaccine production and sovereignty in the continent.
A Gavi spokesperson said AVMA provides incentive payments to cover the increased costs of manufacturing on the African continent. This is critical support as new manufacturers need to build the economies of scale required to be competitive in the global marketplace.
“New entrants moving into manufacturing in Africa are likely to enter the market at relatively low production volumes,” added the Gavi official. “As such, it will be important that these new entrants take advantage of innovative manufacturing processes that are able to maintain high-quality production, at relatively low unit costs, even at small volumes.
“The incentives have been tailored specifically to provide the highest rewards to the manufacture of AVMA priority vaccines, these are vaccines where new product profiles would benefit national programs, and or, where analysis indicates opportunities for sustainable commercial manufacturing are most significant.”
RNA for Africa
The AVMA will also back manufacturers that use “priority technology platforms,” including those based on viral vectors and mRNA, according to the spokesperson, who said, “Here we hope to see diversification of platform technologies on the continent.”
Providing support for mRNA-based vaccine production is expected to help Africa prepare for future pandemics and foster the development of jabs that protect against endemic diseases.
“Beyond COVID-19, there are currently no WHO prequalified mRNA vaccines for routine immunization. AVMA offers specific rewards for any vaccine technologies eventually using this technology platform, and we hope to see AVMA encourage innovation in this space,” noted the official.
Technology suppliers
Companies that seek AVMA support will also be encouraged to forge close links with suppliers to ensure they will have access to innovative bioprocessing technologies.
Gavi is encouraging entities considering commencing vaccine manufacturing on the African continent to tailor business cases to the specific market conditions surrounding the vaccine they intend to produce. The organization says it is working to provide improved market intelligence to all aspiring manufacturers to assist them in making robust business cases.
“Of course, these business cases will also be reliant on making maximum use of innovative technologies, and manufacturers should of course build networks amongst manufacturing technology suppliers,” according to Gavi. “However, as a downstream incentive, AVMA is designed to create market conditions conducive to efficient high-quality, low-cost manufacture—we do not provide direct advice or match-making support on a business-to-business basis.”
