Institut Pasteur de Dakar to manufacture affordable measles and rubella vaccine

INSTITUT Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) has today announced the launch of a new programme to advance the development of a measles and rubella vaccine for manufacture in Senegal.

The grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will deploy Batavia’s Hip-Vax intensified production process for GMP measles and rubella material and Univercells’ NevoLine™ technology platform to accelerate manufacturing and affordable access to essential and epidemic vaccines in Africa. IPD will produce the vaccine for essential, routine immunization campaigns in low- and middle-income countries and for outbreak and catch-up campaigns.

Production will be transferred to the state-of-the-art MADIBA facility, a regional manufacturing hub for Covid-19 and other epidemic vaccines with a capacity to produce 300 million doses for use in Africa.

Dr Amadou Alpha Sall, CEO of IPD, said: ‘By manufacturing affordable measles and rubella vaccines and diagnostics in Africa, the region will be one step closer to a diversified manufacturing landscape for epidemic preparedness and improving the supply chain for essential vaccines for routine immunization. This will help countries in the region build autonomy and reach every child with lifesaving vaccines.’

Dr Christopher Yallop, COO of Batavia Biosciences added: ‘We are privileged to be able to work with Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance this innovative vaccine technology with a key manufacturing partner. Our HIP-Vax manufacturing process technology, developed on the NevoLine™ platform, is designed to deliver vaccines at high yield and very low cost, increasing affordability and availability.’

José Castillo, co-founder of Univercells, commented: ‘We are honoured to partner with Institut Pasteur de Dakar and Batavia Biosciences, and to participate in this historic initiative that will increase access to the measles and rubella vaccines on the African continent and across the globe. Supporting and nurturing biomanufacturing autonomy is at the heart of Univercells’ mission, and we are thrilled that our technology will help enable progress towards regional autonomy. Knowing that our breakthrough vaccine manufacturing platform NevoLine™, initially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2016, will now help accelerate the manufacture of vaccines in Africa, is very exciting.’

The Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) is a Senegalese private foundation in the public interest with the mission to advance public health and wellbeing in Africa by conducting research, providing training and education, sharing scientific knowledge, and advancing biotechnology. Since its founding in 1896, IPD has been at the forefront of the fight against infectious diseases in West Africa. IPD is one of the four WHO prequalified manufacturers to supply yellow fever vaccine to UN’s Agencies.