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Staff of Reuters 3 Minutes to Read JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) – By working with South African pharmaceutical business Aspen Pharmacare, a group of global finance institutions led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) said on Wednesday that they will help to support an increase in vaccine production know-how in Africa. On September 13, 2018, an Aspen Pharmacare logo is displayed outside company premises in Woodmead, Johannesburg, South Africa. Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters In a first step, the IFC, French development bank Proparco, German development bank DEG, and the United States’ International Development Finance Corporation lent the corporation 600 million euros ($712 million). The plan comes only days after the WHO announced the establishment of a technology transfer centre in South Africa to provide know-how and licensing for the production of COVID-19 vaccines to enterprises from low- and middle-income nations on the continent. Scientists and politicians have chastised advanced countries in North America and Europe for hoarding vaccines, making it impossible for poor African countries to obtain vaccines and inoculate their citizens. Africa now has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world, with South Africa, the region’s most industrialised country, having just partially immunized its 60 million citizens. “The funding will assist Aspen, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical business, in refinancing current debt and strengthening its balance sheet, thereby boosting Aspen’s operations in Africa and emerging markets, including vaccine production and other therapies,” the IFC said in a statement. By cooperating with Aspen, the four development financing institutions hope to support an increase in vaccine manufacturing know-how and knowledge sharing within Africa, according to the statement. Aspen is obtaining COVID-19 vaccine ingredients from Johnson & Johnson in order to fill and finish the vaccines in South Africa. It has a deal with South Africa to supply 31 million doses of the single-shot J&J vaccine and around 240 million doses to the rest of Africa. Aspen is looking for ways to expand and enable COVID-19 vaccine manufacture at its facilities in eastern South Africa, according to Stephen Saad, the company’s CEO. (1 dollar = 0.8429 euros) Promit Mukherjee contributed to this report. Jane Merriman and Steve Orlofsky edited the piece./nRead More

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