Vaccine manufacturer Kenya BioVax Institute is at an advanced stage to set up a fully-fledged facility at Konza Technopolis, CEO Michael Lusiola has announced. He said the country is well on track to realize the dream of locally manufacturing human vaccines.
“We are speeding up efforts to see Kenya package vaccines locally within the next four years, which will be the first step to locally manufacturing them,” Lusiola said in a statement.
He noted that Konza Technopolis, previously called Konza Technology City-a large technology hub planned by the government- would be an ideal location. Konza is marketed as a key driver of Kenya’s national development plan, the Kenya Vision 2030.
Lusiola further said BioVax will manufacture and commercialize vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics and the country will start to reap the benefits of locally manufacturing vaccines within 6 to 10 years. He noted that the government spends about Sh4 billion to support 12 per cent of the vaccination programme while Gavi and UNICEF expend Sh32 billion to support the State.
On July 25, 2023, a Kenya delegation led by Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha visited South Korea’s Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), SK Bioscience and SD Bioneer and stressed the need for Kenya to manufacture vaccines locally. Nakhumicha emphasized the importance of engaging with SK Bioscience for potential collaborations on vaccine manufacturing.
She said that Kenya aims to become the regional hub for specialized health products and technologies, particularly vaccines for children and adolescent girls, and maternal immunization. East African Community countries present a significant market size of over 150 million doses annually for essential childhood, adolescent girls, and maternal vaccines.
Kenya is hence working to establish the capacity for the production of human vaccines at the Kenya BioVax Institute to meet the expanding demand.
By Lean Simatwa