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SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
Bio-pharmaceutical company<br />
lands Covid vaccine contract<br />
The <strong>Western</strong> <strong>Cape</strong> is a centre of medical innovation.<br />
Credit: studioMAS<br />
The Biovac building in the <strong>Cape</strong> Town suburb<br />
of Ndabeni is wedged between the railway<br />
line and Alexandra Road. Contributing to<br />
the medical setting are the nearby facilities<br />
of Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital and the Valkenburg<br />
(psychiatric) Hospital.<br />
The bio-pharmaceutical company’s headquarters<br />
are themselves a fine piece of architecture (pictured)<br />
but the number of prefabricated offices lining the<br />
property’s fence suggests that the facility is bursting<br />
at the seams. A contract to produce Covid vaccines<br />
will make Biovac even busier, but there’s a plan in<br />
place to build a new facility, for R2-billion.<br />
Biovac is a joint venture between the state<br />
and the private sector which started in 2003<br />
and now produces more than 15-million doses<br />
of vaccine every year, most of which are in the<br />
paediatric category. An agreement with Pfizer<br />
and BioNTech to produce their vaccines will see<br />
Biovac making 100-million doses of the vaccine<br />
on an annual basis in the final phase. The only<br />
other manufacturer of Covid vaccines in South<br />
Africa is Aspen in Gqeberha, which is making<br />
the Johnson & Johnson product.<br />
Biovac is looking to international development<br />
finance institutions to fund its latest expansion<br />
plan as it believes the facility could ultimately<br />
produce up to 500-million doses annually, which<br />
would open up the African market.<br />
Biovac has a host of partnerships with<br />
academic institutions and other entities. These<br />
include: the University of <strong>Cape</strong> Town, Council for<br />
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), World<br />
Health Organization (WHO), Programme for<br />
Applied Technologies in Health (PATH), Sanofi<br />
Pasteur of France, BioFarma of Indonesia and<br />
Pfizer of USA. More than 320 highly-qualified<br />
people are employed at Biovac.<br />
Innovation<br />
Asthma pumps are wonderful things but what if you<br />
are too weak to squeeze the pump hard enough to<br />
make it work? Enter two UCT Master’s students with a<br />
passion for gadgets, Giancarlo Beukes and Gokul Nair.<br />
WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS <strong>2022</strong><br />
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