Science Minister leads meeting with WHO on technology hub initiative for manufacture of COVID-19 vaccine
In response to global interest in scaling up vaccine manufacture and supply capabilities to confront present and future pandemics, Science Minister Andrés Couve invited the World Health Organization (WHO) to present its project to set up technology transfer centers for developing mRNA vaccines to Chilean government, university, laboratory and industry representatives.
This morning, Science Minister Andrés Couve met with Dr. James Fitzgerald, Director of Health Systems and Services at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Dr. Fernando Leanes, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Chile, to promote the participation of Chile’s scientific community in the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Also in attendance at the virtual meeting were representatives from the Chilean ministries of Health and Foreign Relations, the Science Ministry’s Advisory Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, officials from the Universidad de Chile, Universidad de Antofagasta, Universidad Austral and Universidad Católica, and industry representatives. The meeting was held in response to a call issued by the WHO and its partners to increase the capacity of low- and middle-income countries to produce COVID-19 vaccines and scale up the manufacturing of these critical tools to control the pandemic around the world.
The WHO initiative seeks to install a network of technology transfer centers and enter into dialogue with interested manufacturers in different countries. Initially, it will prioritize the use of emerging mRNA vaccine technology, which has proven to be very successful in the production of COVID-19 vaccines, but could be extended to other technologies in the future. The centers are intended to enable an industrial or semi-industrial production process that would include the training and provision of all necessary standard operating procedures for production and quality control.
Dr. Fitzgerald commented, “achieving equal access to vaccines is a challenge (…) we need to overcome countries’ structural barriers, which not only prevent access to immunization, but also access to the technologies needed to produce vaccines. We congratulate Chile for the work that its government, its private sector and academia have carried out to be able to move forward in this regard.”
“To ensure that Chile has a timely and equitable supply of COVID-19 and future vaccines, we have to consider all available options. This includes the chance to collaborate on international initiatives, such as the one presented today by the WHO. We value this first meeting between the government, academia and industry in Chile, with its installed capacities working alongside laboratories with state-of-the-art technology,” Minister Couve explained.
Regarding the WHO initiative, Analía Porras, Unit Chief for Medicines and Health Technologies at the PAHO/WHO, stated, “it’s important to be able to support the idea of regionalizing production. This isn’t only about producing the vaccine; it’s also about looking at the whole value chain. Today, a lot of the production capacity that exists in the region is limited by a lack of key deliverables for filling the vials and preparing the vaccines for shipment. When we look at the production chain, we are going to look at all of its elements.”