Tuesday 15 August, Egypt’s Health Minister Ahmed Emad al-Din and Emirati Ambassador to Egypt Gomaa Mubarak al-Jneibi joined in opening “Building 60”, the EgyVac factory for vaccines and sterile packaging in Cairo, which is part of the Egyptian Company for Production of Vaccines, Sera, and Drugs (VACSERA).
The new factory was established with EGP700 million (USD39 million) in UAE investment. Jneibi praised the relations between his country and Egypt saying that, at USD4.9 billion in investment, the UAE is one of the biggest Arab investors in Egypt, and the most diversified. He said EgyVac was among the largest vaccine factories in the Middle East and one of the more vital Emirati projects contributing to healthcare for Egyptians.
Mr Emad al-Din explained that the factory had been constructed over 30 months, and its production should provide Egypt with self-sufficiency in biomedicines, especially sera, pointing out the plant’s monthly production capacity of 8,640,000 ampoules and 4,320,000 vials of 13 vaccines and sera. This, he said, covers local needs and leaves a portion for export to the Middle East and Africa. The plant, he said, aims to produce life-saving vaccines such as antidotes for serpent, snake, and scorpion poison and bee stings, as well as vaccines against tetanus and diphtheria.
He said that the factory consists of a ground floor and four upper storeys. The ground floor is allocated to the service systems for the project such as the water and air plants, the generators, refrigerators, locker rooms and store rooms. The first floor includes the main production lines of the factory and the second line of sterile packaging of products after manufacture; the second floor is for air handling units sterile conditioning. The fourth and fifth floors are allocated for future expansion.
The Health Minister praised VACSERA as a “medical shield for the health system in Egypt”. He explained that it is composed of three subsidiaries: the veterinary company, the blood company, and the vaccine company; and stressed the keenness of the current government to develop the company and establish in it new plants.
Watani International
20 August 2017