By Abujah Racheal
Abuja, Dec. 18, 2025 (NAN) – Nigeria is taking a decisive leap toward pharmaceutical sovereignty with plans for a fully integrated, end-to-end vaccine manufacturing facility. This ambitious project, led by Innovative Biotech Nigeria, represents a fundamental shift from the continent’s typical ‘fill-and-finish’ model to complete indigenous production. Dr. Simon Agwale, the company’s CEO and a key figure in the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI), provided exclusive insights into this nearly two-decade-long endeavor in an interview with NAN.
Dr. Agwale emphasized the strategic importance of vertical integration. “Most vaccine facilities in Africa only perform formulation or packaging after importing active ingredients—the critical, high-value biological components,” he explained. “Our objective is to break this dependency by establishing a facility that covers the entire value chain: from initial research and development (R&D) and the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), right through to downstream formulation, fill-and-finish, and packaging.”
This end-to-end capability is crucial for true health security. It means Nigeria would control the most complex parts of the process, not just the final assembly of imported materials.
The company’s pipeline is strategically diversified. It includes novel vaccine candidates for formidable regional threats like Lassa fever, HIV, and Ebola, demonstrating a commitment to tackling Africa-specific disease burdens. Concurrently, it plans to license proven, commercially available vaccines—such as those in Nigeria’s routine childhood immunization program, plus vaccines for typhoid and meningitis—for local production. This dual-track approach ensures both immediate public health impact and long-term R&D leadership.
The scale of the challenge is matched by the required investment, estimated to exceed $100 million. The African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) is funding comprehensive feasibility studies covering technical design, financial modeling, environmental impact, and equity structures. “These studies are not a formality,” Agwale noted. “They are the blueprint to ensure the facility is viable, sustainable, and compliant with the stringent international standards (like WHO PQ and cGMP) required for global market acceptance.”
Significant milestones have already been reached. The Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed site at the Abuja Technology Village is complete, pending final certification from the Federal Ministry of Environment. The construction plan involves building a state-of-the-art modular facility in Europe—where specialized engineering expertise is concentrated—before shipping and assembling it on-site in Nigeria. This method accelerates deployment while ensuring world-class quality.
Agwale projected an aggressive timeline: with immediate funding, physical completion could occur within 18 months, followed by a critical 4-month period for qualification, validation, and regulatory testing before the first vaccines roll off the line.
The implications extend far beyond the factory walls. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the dangers of vaccine nationalism and fragile global supply chains. “During COVID-19, Nigeria relied heavily on global goodwill for vaccine access,” Agwale recalled. “Local end-to-end production transforms our posture from a petitioner to a producer. It ensures timely availability and allows for a faster, independent response to pandemics and outbreaks, fundamentally enhancing national and regional health security.”
The economic and scientific dividends are equally transformative. The project is expected to create high-skill technology jobs, reduce the massive foreign exchange expenditure on vaccine imports, and generate new revenue through exports to other African and global markets. Perhaps most profoundly, it will serve as a living laboratory and training platform. “It will provide hands-on experience for Nigerian scientists and students in advanced biomanufacturing, regulatory science, and diagnostics,” Agwale added, “building the human capital needed to sustain a biotech ecosystem for decades to come.”
This initiative marks Nigeria’s bold step from ambition to actionable strategy in becoming a continental hub for vaccine innovation and production.
(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
AIR/AMM
=======
Edited by Abiemwense Moru
