Finance News Weekly: The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance for a country to be autonomous in vaccine production. In this sense, where is Morocco currently?
Abdelmadjid Belaïche: A country’s pharmaceutical sovereignty presupposes its ability to obtain regular and sustainable supplies of pharmaceutical products, particularly vaccines. This can only be fully achieved through the local manufacturing of these health products to avoid as much as possible depending on third countries for supplies of vaccines, and not to find ourselves in competition with other countries at times. peaks in demand for these products. The question that arises today is: “Has our country achieved its objectives in this area”? The answer is: “Not quite, it’s still in progress.” Indeed, if in the field of vaccination animal, two national entities, namely the BCI, a private laboratory, and Biopharma, a public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, are very active, the same is not true for the production of vaccines for human use . And this, despite the colossal investments that were mobilized for the construction of the Marbio “Ex-Sensyo” vaccine factory in Benslimane and the start of “Fil & Finish” production of Sinopharm vaccines by Sothema laboratories in 2021.
FNH: At this stage, is Morocco on the right track to becoming a regional leader in vaccine production within a few years? And what steps does the Kingdom still need to take to become a continental hub in the field of pharmaceutical biotechnology?
AB: The causes of the delay in the production of vaccines in Morocco are multiple and complex. First of all, we must remember the complexity of the biotechnologies necessary for the production of modern vaccines, in particular RNA vaccines. Then there is the change in the global health context, with the virtual disappearance of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has radically changed the profile of demand for vaccines, which has migrated from an almost exclusive demand for Covid-19 vaccines (mainly in 2021) towards a return to a lower demand in volume, and above all more dispersed over several types of vaccines for classic infections. This change in the profile of demand for vaccines has had, at the global level, a negative impact on economies of scale in vaccine production. In fact, the demand for vaccines was mainly focused in 2021 on anti-Covid vaccines, whereas in the post-Covid period it experienced a return to vaccines for more common viral or bacterial infections.
This change at the global level is apparently likely to dampen the desire for investment and partnerships in terms of vaccine production. However, we must never forget the fact that the future of the world will probably bring new environmental and health threats and the threat of viral pandemics. This means that the investments that have been made and the efforts that have been deployed in Morocco are not a loss, insofar as they represent a strike force against possible future pandemics. Likewise they represent a chance to diversify towards the production of a wider range of vaccines meeting different supply needs. These investments will also allow Morocco to position itself as a true vaccine hub for our continent, and as the heart of the country’s and Africa’s vaccine sovereignty. It must also be remembered that to produce a vaccine, it is not enough to have an ultra-modern, well-equipped factory certified to the latest standards with qualified human resources. It would also be necessary to have the necessary authorizations from foreign partner laboratories and solid files for requests for Marketing Authorizations (AMM). This requires a lot of time, not to mention the time needed to obtain these marketing authorizations and for inspections by the authorities in charge of the pharmaceutical sector.
FNH: What would be the economic and health benefits expected for Morocco following its investments in vaccine production?
AB: The economic benefits are potentially enormous, but difficult to quantify today. In the event of a large-scale pandemic such as that of Covid-19, our country will be able to quickly establish optimal vaccination coverage for its population, with much lower costs than those paid in 2021 to acquire vaccines against the coronavirus. As a reminder, the vaccine import bill was nearly 6 billion dirhams. This then aggravated the deficit in our pharmaceutical trade balance which went from -6.8 billion dirhams in 2020 to -12.6 billion dirhams in 2021. This very high cost is certainly largely justified by the health benefits in terms of availability and access to Covid vaccines and in terms of large numbers of people vaccinated, resulting in less human damage compared to other countries.
However, local production of these vaccines would have made it possible not only to relieve our pharmaceutical trade balance and make substantial foreign exchange savings, but also to substantially improve our pharmaceutical exports, to contribute to our industrial added value and our supply of jobs for young graduates. With very significant investments in the production of vaccines, Morocco is finally setting foot in high-level biotechnology, without forgetting that the mastery of biopharmaceutical know-how will subsequently make it possible to move towards other products with high economic and added value. health, such as monoclonal antibodies used in the treatment of cancers and other chronic diseases. It will also enable significant savings on medications, which are among the most expensive today.
