Day: August 31, 2022

Gennecs plans USD 150 mn vaccine factory in Egypt, backed by export ambitions

Local pharma firm Gennecs will invest USD 150 mn to build a vaccine manufacturing facility in Egypt, CEO Adam El Daba told Enterprise. The factory will be able to produce 300 mn vaccines every year, making it the largest of its kind in the MENA region.

The vaccines: The company will produce jabs included in the country’s national immunization program, including for HPV, polio, hepatitis A and B, and others, co-founder and General Manager Nibal Dahaba told us.

The finance: The company is lining up capital from foreign investors including regional and global institutions, as well as family offices in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Egypt, El Daba said.

Timeline: The factory will begin producing ready-to-fill vials by 2026 and is expected to start producing antigens for the vaccines by 2029 after it has received accreditation from the World Health Organization (WHO), Dahaba said.

Accreditation just got easier for Egyptian firms: Egyptian medical authorities received the WHO’s second-highest regulatory classification — the ML-3 level of national vaccine regulation — earlier this month, which allows local firms to apply to the WHO to have their products pre-qualified and listed for emergency use.

This will be essential for Gennecs’ export ambitions: The classification will eventually allow companies to export vaccines manufactured in Egypt. “WHO prequalification is a must if you need to be accredited and start being a global player,” Dahaba said. “It will allow us to export all over the world.” The company plans to export vaccines to all countries in the GAVI alliance, which includes most of Africa, Dahaba said.

Where things stand now: The company has acquired land in an industrial zone in Greater Cairo and completed the initial design phase for the factory, with help from an Italian construction firm CSV Construction, Dahaba said.

The facility will also have a research and development center and a “strain bank,” which catalogs different African disease strains.

Egypt’s Gennecs Pharmaceuticals is in the process of establishing a multi-vaccine production facility in the country in addition to introducing a vaccine research centre at a total investment of USD 150 million. GennVax, which will be established by Gennecs team, would include global specialists in vaccines and top-notch trailblazers from all over the world with the right exclusive tech transfer providers assuring all production lines to be WHO PQ & European GMP accredited and in analogous with appropriate R&D technologies.

• The biggest full production cycle vaccines facility in the region would be catering to Africa and the MEA region.
• Full vaccines portfolio for current NPIs (Non-pharmaceutical interventions) requirements and for future modernization across the region.
• Applying the highest vaccine manufacturing technologies with a strong data infrastructure.

Nihal Dahaba, Co-Founder & General Manager of Emerging Markets told Zawya Projects that the land for the vaccine plant has been acquired a most important industrial zone. The project would be implemented in partnership with stakeholders from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Dahaba said without mentioning the zone.

Dahaba also did not disclose the production capacity of the facility but said it would be built in two phases with Phase 1, which comprises packaging, scheduled to be completed by 2026, while Phase 2, which includes actual vaccine production, would be completed by 2029.

She stated that the plant’s concept design has been finalised by a specialist Italian firm, which is now at work on its comprehensive design.

Dahaba said the company would primarily target the domestic market, and after acquiring international certifications, will begin exports to African countries.

GennVax will play a role of a hub in securing all African demand from vaccines. WHO roadmap for Africa is to reach 60 percent of required vaccines to be manufactured locally by 2040. Egypt has the most innovative pharmaceutical industry infrastructure within the region. Egypt is considered the biggest birth group with the largest population in the GAVI allies. It is the biggest direct-procurement country in the region.

About Gennecs

Gennecs is the pharmaceutical arm associated from El Daba Holding, an internationally announced swiftly growing conglomerate in Egypt, partnering with local and international investors that leverage their regional and global outreach.

Gennecs group is acting as a local / regional representative and the partner of choice for over ten top global pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, creating the biggest portfolio within the region. The company portfolio comprises several top vaccine manufacturers like Moderna. Gennecs team is designed of a group of leading global specialists who participated in the establishment of top vaccine facilities across the world, led by Dr. Nibal Dahaba with the legacy in shaping and modernizing regional NIPs across the MEA or Ministry of External Affairs

كشفت دكتورة نيبال دهبة، المدير التنفيذي لجينيكس القابضة للقاحات و الأدوية البيولوجية، أن شركتها بصدد إنشاء أول مصنع مختلف أنواع اللقاحات بدورة تصنيعية كاملة، إضافة إلي تدشين أول مركز بحث علمى لبحوث اللقاحات بحجم استثمارات يصل إلي 150 مليون دولار.

وأضافت دهبة، في تصريحات خاصة لـ”أموال الغد”، أن الشركة حصلت على الأرض في إحدي الضواحي الصناعية الكبري، مشيرة إلي أنه سيتم تنفيذ المشروع بشراكة مصرية إماراتية سعودية.

وذكرت أن بناء المصنع علي مرحلتين، أولاهما تختص بالتعبئة والتغليف ومن المقرر أن تنتهي بحلول 2026، فيما تشمل الثانية عملية التصنيع الكامل وتنتهي خلال 2029.

وأشارت إلي الإنتهاء حتى الفترة الحالية من التصماميم الأولية والبدء فى تصاميم البناء بواسطة إحدى الشركات الإيطالية والتى قامت بإنشاء أغلب مصانع اللقاحات حول العالم.

وأوضحت المدير التنفيذي أن إدارة المشروع ستكون تحت الإشراف الكامل لجينيكس بمشاركة خبراء دوليين في صناعة اللقاحات على رأسهم الدكتور ريتشارد فان الذي أدار مصنع بيوفاك للقاحات بجنوب أفريقيا وأيضًا له باع طويل مع الكيانات العالمية للقاحات والجهات الصحية الدولية.

وذكرت دهبة أن الشركة خططت لعمل حملة تسويقية على 3 مراحل بعد الانتهاء من تنفيذ المصنع أولاها التسويق داخل السوق المصرية، ثم الحصول على الاعتمادات الدولية التي خلاا عام، والثالثة التوجه إلي التصدير لقارة أفريقيا.

وأكدت أن مصر تمتلك فرصا كبيرة وهائلة في توطين صناعة اللقاحات والأدوية البيولوجية، خاصة أنها تستحوذ على أكبر عدد من مصانع الأدوية والمستحضرات الصيدلانية في منطقة الشرق الأوسط.

وترى دهبة أن تصنيع الأدوية البيولوجية ومن ضمنها صناعة اللقاحات هي المستقبل في العالم الطبي، ويجب على جميع دول منطقة الشرق الأوسط وأفريقيا أن تركز على توطين صناعة هذه النوعية من الأدوية.