4.6 Discussion and Recommendations

of raw materials and their providers needs to be planned to ensure viability. In his words, “buy local first”.

Finally, he alluded to the call for sustainable manufacturing practices. Similar to other speakers, he reinforced the importance of collaboration in knowledge sharing, the splitting of vaccine manufacturing across different facilities, and the production of equipment such as refrigerated transport and facilities. Symbiotic relationships amongst manufacturers of key inputs need to prioritise local products versus imports to cut costs and build across the value chain.

Utilising varying technologies

There are advantages to using varying platform technologies for the development of novel vaccines as they provide an opportunity to develop for the future, without limiting the focus on single viruses and mitigating the risk of duplication of capabilities. Technological flexibility means investments go further, creating room for further innovation. Using well-established vaccine platforms also provides many advantages to local manufacturers to allow for timely interventions as viruses and diseases change.

The People Matter

Ms Narsai asked how educational institutions and policymakers can make sure people are trained and provide human resources for sustainable local manufacturing. Mr Suri stressed the need for industrialised training which covers upstream and downstream production, solution formulation, procurement, regulation and quality control. These aspects of industrialised training must be streamlined in tertiary education programmes with an integrated internship to apply their learning before uptake into good manufacturing practice facilities. Dr Lartey noted that public institutions and industry can provide scholarships within schools of pharmacy. In-house company training must complement formal education to remain relevant. To this end, Dr Nweneka underscored the need for the industry to partner with academic institutions.

The Role of Policymakers and the Enabling Environment

All speakers mentioned the importance of an enabling policy environment. Dr Lartey pointed to the existence of policies and lack of funding to support local manufacturing. He lamented the lack of an enabling environment, underpinned by unsustainable funding. Dr Nweneka noted that the implementation of effective partnerships will also help to ensure quality control and uptake of pharmaceutical goods by other African countries. Genuine political commitment and leadership are required to get this off the ground. Policies protecting the market and supporting initiatives towards localisation are required.

The Opportunity: Vaccine Manufacturing Inputs

There are more than 200 components or production inputs required in the vaccine manufacturing process to produce vaccines. Partnerships across experienced and emerging manufacturers will help to promote the production of these components on the continent. Collaboration agreements should be put in place after identifying a core list of components to start with.