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African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced on Monday that has signed project preparation facility agreement with Nigeria-based for Innovative Biotech Limited.
The facility will provide critical early-stage preparatory capital in order to de-risk and progress the project to bankability in a timely manner, the Bank said in a press statement.
Innovative Biotech intends develop and implement a world-class vaccine manufacturing facility, built in adherence to Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations, that will produce the Typhoid, Rotavirus, and Pentavalent/Hexavalent vaccines as well as other childhood routine vaccines in the short term, with plans to expand into the production of the Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19), (HIV), Ebola, (HPV), and Lassa vaccines in the medium term.
When fully implemented, the Project will be the first indigenously and privately owned biotech company in Nigeria to operationalise a fully integrated vaccine manufacturing facility through the deployment of its own Intellectual Property (IP) for HIV, Ebola, and HPV vaccines.
African Union has set an ambitious objective of developing, producing and distributing at least 60 percent of the routine vaccines for Africa by 2040 on the continent.
The agreement was signed by Simon Agwale, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Innovative Biotech and Haytham ElMaayergi – Executive Vice President, Global Trade Bank, Afreximbank.
(Reporting by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
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