‘Made in UAE’ Covid vaccines to support global demand

Abu Dhabi - The vaccine has already been rolled out currently through a local partner with an initial capacity of 2m doses.

Ashwani Kumar

Published: Mon 29 Mar 2021, 4:27 PM

‘Made in UAE’ vaccines will support local and global demand for vaccines, a top official from Abu Dhabi-based G42 revealed.

The UAE is set to produce Hayat-Vax as a result of a joint venture between G42 and Sinopharm this year from a new mass production in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).

The vaccine has already been rolled out currently through a local partner – Ras Al Khaimah-based pharma firm Julphar - with an initial capacity of 2 million doses per month.

Ashish Koshy, CEO, G42 Healthcare, during a virtual summit in Abu Dhabi said the company is in “advanced stages” of manufacturing vaccines. “For vaccine manufacturing, we are in advanced stages of launching. We are working with some of our key strategic partners towards launching local manufacturing of the vaccine,” Koshy said during the opening day of the World Immunisation and Logistics Summit where top officials from the WHO, UNICEF and other global entities stressed on the importance of equitable access to vaccines.

Koshy pointed out: “This will be done in the UAE. Our goal is to commence production this year itself to support not just local but global demand for vaccines.”

Talking about the challenges ahead, he noted that the production unit is a “complex process” and it will take time to get Good Manufacturing Practices certification. However, multiple partnerships and plans holds the key amid an urgency to provide vaccines to everyone.

“Abu Dhabi has taken an innovative approach to address multiple challenges,” Koshy said.

“Setting up the facility in Abu Dhabi is definitely going to be a challenge, but it is an evolving journey considering how Abu Dhabi has responded to the pandemic over the past one year. I am confident that we can use the joint capabilities to navigate through this.”

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com