KeyPlants ships vaccine manufacturing filling facility to Senegal

KeyPlants, a provider of life science facilities and PODs, it has shipped a first-of-its-kind vaccine manufacturing filling facility to Senegal in West Africa. KeyPlants successfully completed and shipped the facility in less than eight months.

After the facility is installed and becomes fully operational later in 2022, it will be the only regional manufacturing hub on the continent outside of South Africa capable of producing finished Covid-19 and other vaccines.

The shipment of this advanced facility is an important step towards realising the vision of Project MADIBA, led by Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD), a non-profit foundation concerned with promoting public health and well-being in Senegal and throughout Africa. The project enjoys strong support from the government of Senegal, Africa CDC, WHO, CEPI and other partners and is supported by a global collaboration of funders and companies. These include KeyPlants and MEDInstill, which provides the novel vaccine manufacturing equipment utilised in the facility.

With the capacity to produce up to 300 million Covid-19 vaccine doses annually, Project MADIBA aims to revolutionise access to vaccines in Africa and implement a safe, financially sustainable, and autonomous infrastructure to secure vaccine access and equity for Africa.

Due to the facility’s multi-suite drug substance and fill-finish capabilities, Project MADIBA has the flexibility to facilitate the manufacture of additional therapeutics beyond mRNA vaccines and meet changing global health needs. Additionally, the portable and prefabricated design of the facility means that it is well equipped to scale-up or scale-out in line with the evolving needs of the local community.

The African Union and Africa CDC has identified vaccine manufacturing as a priority to address vaccine inequity to the continent, setting a target to manufacture 60% of African vaccine supply by 2040 and vaccine autonomy by 2060. Project MADIBA is a critical first step in achieving this goal, with this facility to serve as a blueprint for future vaccine manufacturing facilities to be built across Africa.

Dr. Amadou Sall, director of Institut Pasteur de Dakar, said: “Over a year after lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines were made broadly available to high-income countries, only 15% of Africa has been fully immunised. Against this backdrop, IPD remains focused on our vision to build and operate a vaccine manufacturing facility in Senegal that can produce vaccines for Africa as soon as possible.”

Jörgen Harrysson, CEO of KeyPlants, said: “We are proud to leverage our extensive experience and expertise in modular facilities and off-site manufacturing to drive forward this important project. By doing so, we will help provide crucial access to lifesaving therapeutics for the African population.”

Daniel Py, CEO and founder of MEDInstill, added: “With the adoption of MEDInstill’s technology, Project MADIBA will be both transformative and disruptive in the pharma and biopharma space by delivering vaccines to those in need at an unmatched safety level.”