In the course of 2024, the production of the Covid-19 vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer should start there in the capital Kigali, the company announced during a visit to Kigali by the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer (SPD). Dreyer informed himself about the project on Sunday at a university not far from the BioNTech site in a special economic zone.
BioNTech is planning its first production site in Africa in Rwanda, with others planned in Senegal and possibly in South Africa. The foundation for a hall will soon be built on the property in Kigali. The containers, so-called “BioNTainers”, are then placed in these. They are the heart of the plant, where the vaccine is ultimately produced.
The first containers are to be brought to Africa by sea or air in December. Initially, two “BioNTainers” are planned in Kigali, in which 50 million doses of the Covid 19 vaccine can then be produced per year. In the longer term, the capacity is to be doubled.
Potentially, mRNA vaccines against tuberculosis or malaria can also be produced in the plant in the future. Biontech is currently preparing clinical studies for the development of such vaccines. According to the company, the start of the studies is planned for the end of the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year. By the time vaccine production starts in 2024, Biontech wants to create around 100 jobs in Kigali.
BioNTech shares are temporarily up 0.51 percent at $132.31 in premarket NASDAQ trading.
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