BioNTech unveils plans for container vaccine factories in Africa

ISTANBUL

German pharma firm BioNTech on Wednesday announced plans to set up vaccine manufacturing facilities made from shipping containers in Africa.

The modular design unveiled at a ceremony in Marburg, Germany includes shipping containers equipped for manufacturing vaccines, including the COVID-19 jab developed by BioNTech and Pfizer.

“The company has introduced its approach to establishing scalable vaccine production by developing and delivering turnkey mRNA manufacturing facilities based on a container solution,” read a BioNTech statement.

It said the model “consists of one drug substance and one formulation module, each called a BioNTainer.”

“Each module is built of six ISO sized containers (2.6m x 2.4m x 12m) … This allows for mRNA vaccine production in bulk,” the statement said.

“The BioNTainer will be equipped to manufacture a range of mRNA-based vaccines targeted to the needs of the African Union member states, for example the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and BioNTech’s investigational malaria and tuberculosis vaccines,” it added.