President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has cut the sod for the commencement of construction works on a US$122 million 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 manufacturing 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, 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 rollout 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 US$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 who’s board of directors will soon be out doored.
All of these efforts the president noted, has 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.
The managing director of DEK Vaccines Ltd,Dr Kofi Nsiah-Poku, in his remarks stated that DEK vaccines limited is a US$122 million investment with the capacity to manufacture 600 million doses of various vaccines annually.
Vaccine manufacturing, Nsiah-Poku indicated “is 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, are 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.
The British high commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson and the European Union (EU) ambassador to Ghana, Irehad Razaaly, both graced the sod cutting ceremony with their presence.
In separate statement, the two envoys pledged the support of both the United Kingdom and the EU for the DEK vaccine manufacturing project.
Recognising the critical importance of health infrastructure in promoting sustainable health security against infectious diseases across the globe and particularly in the African region, the Government of Ghana has prioritized vaccine manufacturing in Ghana as a key component of its healthcare strategy.
The DEK Vaccine manufacturing factory in Accra, Ghana, represents a significant project aimed at manufacturing 600 million doses of vaccines annually, including vaccines for Malaria, HPV, Pneumonia, Rotavirus, and Cholera, with the full value chain.
Beginning with “Fill and Finish”, the project will eventually incorporate vaccine manufacturing and production, with a plan to construct a total of four Fill and Finish lines that can fill any type of vaccine.
Using the latest state-of-the-art technology, the Fill and Finish facility will have the capability to fill both mRNA and traditional vaccines. The development of DEK Vaccines Limited carries both direct and indirect socio-economic benefits, as the adoption and maintenance of reliable health security infrastructure serves as the foundation for sustainable economic growth.
DEK’S investment of US$122.6 million will complete the first phase of the project, providing employment for over 250 full-time employees. This is a significant step towards securing the health of Ghanaians and Africans as a whole, through locally manufactured vaccines that meet global quality standards.
