South African company BioVac will take final manufacturing steps of the vaccine’s filling and packaging and support distribution to 55 countries in the African Union, announced BioNTech and US partner Pfizer on Wednesday.
“Technical transfer and all other preparatory measures begin immediately,” a spokesman said. When fully operational, Biovac is expected to complete more than 100 million doses of the vaccine annually. Delivery in Cape Town is to take place from the plant in Marburg, among others. The first deliveries are planned for early next year.
BioNTech and Pfizer’s network now spans three continents with more than 20 production sites. According to both companies, so far more than one billion doses of the Kovid-19 vaccine have been shipped to more than 100 countries. “Our goal is to enable us to manufacture and distribute our vaccines to people on all continents as well as ensure the quality of production and vaccination doses,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech. Ensuring quality is one reason BioNTech has so far refused to issue a patent for the vaccine. BioNTech stock was ultimately up 5.89 percent at $259.61 in NASDAQ trading.
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