Sanofi and Biovac partner to produce polio vaccines

Sanofi and Biovac announce a local manufacturing partnership to produce inactivated polio vaccines (IPV) in Africa.

This agreement is designed to enable regional manufacturing of polio vaccines to serve the potential needs of over 40 African countries. This partnership with Sanofi makes Biovac the first African producer of IPV on and for the African continent and supports the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ambition to have 60 percent of local vaccines produced in Africa by 2040.

Thomas Triomphe, Executive Vice President, Vaccines, Sanofi: “For 40 years, Sanofi has supplied billions of polio vaccine doses globally, supporting the world getting close to polio eradication. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, many routine pediatric vaccination programs were halted or disrupted. Catching up will be key to preventing a rise in cases in many countries worldwide and this Sanofi partnership with Biovac is a step in that direction. Establishing this manufacturing partnership now, ahead of time, is key to enabling Biovac’s manufacturing capabilities for future international tenders.”

Dr Morena Makhoana, Chief Executive Officer, Biovac: “We are very proud of this partnership with Sanofi, which will empower Biovac as an African manufacturer to champion polio eradication on and for the continent by bringing manufacturing of IPV doses closer to people needs.”

A partnership of strong synergies

Sanofi has been a critical partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1988 and has supplied the world and UNICEF with more than 1.5 billion doses of IPV through GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, which aims to vaccinate the populations of more than 70 of the poorest countries on the planet with the aim to eradicate polio.

Sanofi will continue to produce the bulk of IPV and Biovac, which will hold the marketing authorisation, will be responsible for late-stage formulation, filling, packaging and delivery of millions of IPV doses to UNICEF for GAVI countries in Africa. Based in Cape Town, Biovac is a leading biotechnology company and a Centre of Excellence, rooted in Africa, specialising in the development and manufacture of vaccines and other biologicals. These products are destined for patients in Africa and beyond. In collaboration with the South African government, Biovac was established in 2003 to revive local human vaccine development and manufacturing capability in Southern Africa.

Prevention through immunisation

Polio is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children under five years of age, who suffer the highest burden of temporary or permanent paralysis and death. Polio is an incurable infection that can only be prevented through immunisation. Infected individuals shed the polio virus in the environment through fecal matter, or through the droplets from a sneeze or cough of an infected person, for several weeks. Almost 90% of infected people have no symptoms or very mild symptoms that usually remain undetected. In others, initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, aching muscles, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis.

Over the last 30 years, under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), 2.5 billion children have been immunized against polio resulting in a 99 percent reduction in the number of cases worldwide. At the end of 2023, polio was endemic in only two countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan). As a result of the global effort to eradicate the disease, almost 20 million people have been saved from paralysis.