It is part of an investment directed at boosting supply of vaccines and biotherapeutics on the African continent, helping it gain vaccine sovereignty and access to future treatments.
Recipharm, a global contract development and manufacturing organisation headquartered in Stockholm, has signed the MOU with His Majesty the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI; the Moroccan Government; and a consortium of the country’s banks.
$500m boost for vaccine and biotherapeutics capacity and capability
Around $500m will be invested by the Moroccan Government and consortium over the next five years to establish both capacity and capability for the manufacturing of vaccines and biotherapeutics in Morocco.
The new factory will be located on a 42 hectare greenfield site with anticipated capacity of around 300m units and is planned to be operational by 2023. It will be run by Recipharm and the company told BioPharma-Reporter that it anticipates producing COVID-19 vaccines and biotherapeutics at the site.
The Morocco factory will mirror the company’s new fill finish line at its facility in Monts, France, on a larger scale: which has been used to support production of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine since March.
Recipharm operates development and manufacturing facilities around the world – including the US, UK, Sweden, Israel, India and Germany – but the site will be its first on the African continent.
The company says the will and commitment of the government and King of Morocco to establish and finance capacity has led to the MOU announced today. Marc Funk, CEO of Recipharm, said: “Together with the other parties involved, we will be able to work to offer Africa a concrete opportunity to gradually gain health independence from western countries and ultimately help to ensure it is less vulnerable in times of crisis.
“Our expertise and previous experience of fill finish manufacturing means we’re ideally placed to ensure successful tech transfer and high-quality operations.”
