US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced on Thursday the signing of a letter of intent with a Brazilian company to manufacture millions of messenger RNA vaccines against the coronavirus that will be distributed exclusively in Latin America.
In a joint statement, the laboratories said they were partnering with the Brazilian biopharmaceutical company Eurofarma Laboratórios SA to produce the vaccine against COVID-19 COMIRNATY, with messenger RNA technology, in the South American nation.
It is expected that at full capacity, more than 100 million doses per year will be manufactured in Brazil from 2022, to be used in their entirety in Latin America.
“Everyone, regardless of their economic status, race, religion or geography, deserves access to vaccines for COVID-19, which save lives,” said Pfizer President Albert Bourla. “We will continue to explore and pursue opportunities like this to help ensure that vaccines are available to all who need them.”
On the eve, the Pan American Health Organization revealed that it is working on an initiative to transfer the technology of messenger RNA vaccines against the coronavirus to Latin America so that several countries can partner and manufacture the doses together, thus reducing dependence on supplies. from the outside.
So far, some 30 companies and public and private institutions throughout the region have expressed interest in participating in the initiative, and in September PAHO will announce those selected.
The new messenger RNA technology, also known as mRNA in English, is used in the manufacture of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It is a vaccine that does not contain any viruses and cannot cause accidental infection. Instead, it uses part of the genetic code to teach the immune system to recognize proteins on the surface of the virus and prepares it to attack it in the event of infection.
Latin America has continued to be the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic for months, with more than 1.5 million cases and 20,000 deaths reported in the last week. Seven of the 20 countries with the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in the world are in the region, but only 23% of the population has completed their vaccination.
One of the main obstacles that countries have faced has been the lack of availability of vaccines, mainly because they depend on doses that arrive from abroad.
The wealthiest countries have bought the most vaccines, limiting access for low- and middle-income nations.
Pfizer and BioNTech said technology transfer, on-site development and equipment installation will begin immediately, to facilitate Eurofarma’s involvement.
Under the sealed agreement, the Brazilian company will receive the raw material from Pfizer’s facilities in the United States.
With this initiative, the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine will be manufactured in more than 20 facilities on four continents. So far they have delivered more than 1.3 billion doses to more than 120 countries and territories around the world.
“The agreement we announced today is an important step in expanding access to vaccines in Latin America and beyond, by expanding our global manufacturing network,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech.
The COMIRNATY vaccine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is licensed for two doses in people 16 years of age and older. It also has an emergency permit to apply to individuals between 12 and 15 years of age.
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