The French “Sanofi” group announced, on Thursday, that it had entered into a partnership with the “Biovac” laboratories in South Africa, to enhance the production capabilities of anti-polio vaccines in Africa, on the occasion of the “Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Vaccine Innovation.”
This agreement aims to “meet the expected needs of more than 40 African countries, and make Biovac the main African producer of anti-polio vaccines in African territories,” according to a statement by the French pharmaceutical company.
The partnership stipulates that Sanofi will continue to produce the vaccine in large quantities, and that Biovac will undertake the final stages of its formulation, packaging and distribution in the African countries that are members of the GAVI vaccine alliance.
Biovac will then obtain a sales license and apply for a tender from UNICEF.
Polio is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children under the age of five.
One in every 200 cases leads to irreversible paralysis, according to the World Health Organization.
Sanofi indicated that it has provided more than 1.5 billion doses of polio vaccines through the Vaccine Alliance, whose goal is to vaccinate populations in the poorest countries.
Sanofi has a strong presence in Africa, with branches in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and South Africa.
Over the past thirty years, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, two and a half billion children have been vaccinated against this disease, resulting in a 99% reduction in polio cases in the world.