Protecting Health Now and for the Future
Egypt’s Vaccine and Biotechnology City is a national project to localize human and veterinary vaccine production, achieving self-sufficiency and supporting health security for Egypt and Africa
Egypt is pursuing a national strategic vision for vaccine manufacturing, having made significant investments in medical and industrial infrastructure over the past years. Thanks to these efforts, the country is now capable of adopting the latest vaccine production technologies, ensuring the availability of various vaccines for citizens, in addition to exporting to regional and African countries.
In this context, Dr. Magdy El-Sayed, CEO of the Vaccine & Biotechnology City, highlights that the project is one of the most important national initiatives aiming to localize vaccine production. It reflects partnerships with global leaders to transfer the latest international technologies in this field. The city is considered a leading model of private-public partnership, represented by MEVAC—the Egyptian-American company for vaccines, which has been operating for more than 15 years and exports vaccines to over 42 countries with branches in more than 90 nations.
This strategic partnership aims to localize the production of both human and veterinary vaccines, thereby achieving health security and enhancing manufacturing capabilities. The city has been designed as a medical-industrial complex aligned with modern global standards to ensure meeting the country’s vaccine needs, thereby safeguarding both the present and the future.
The national authorities fully support this project and are working to overcome all obstacles to complete its phases with the required action, ensuring a strong Egyptian industrial and technological presence that covers the needs of the country and the wider region.
The Golden License
The state approached vaccine manufacturing with a national strategic mindset, investing heavily in medical and industrial infrastructure over the past years. It has now acquired advanced capabilities to embrace modern vaccine production technologies, thereby ensuring the availability of diverse vaccines for citizens and enabling exports to regional and African markets.
Based on this, the “Vaccine & Biotechnology City” project received the Golden License in December 2022 to establish and operate a city for manufacturing, filling, and packaging all types of human and veterinary vaccines, serums, biological products, diagnostics, biotechnology products, and related supplies. This further enhances its position as one of the most significant national projects targeting vaccine self-sufficiency in Egypt.
Currently, Egypt produces only a small percentage of its total vaccine and serum needs, covering the shortfall through imports from Indian, Chinese, European, and American companies. Therefore, the city’s projects will fully meet local demand for both human and veterinary vaccines while exporting the surplus to African and Arab markets.
Dr. Magdy El-Sayed
A Smart City with International Standards
It is noteworthy that once operations commence, the city’s production capacity is expected to reach 140 million doses of human vaccines and serums, rising to 690 million doses upon the completion of all phases. In addition, it will produce 5.2 billion veterinary vaccine doses annually, which will help meet local demand in integration with other state projects.
This project marks a significant milestone in localizing vaccine production in Egypt, thereby enhancing the nation’s healthcare capacity and supporting the national economy by reducing dependency on imports while exporting the surplus to other countries, thereby contributing to the goals of sustainable development.
Dr. Magdy further explains that the Vaccine & Biotechnology City covers a total area of 115,000 square meters, including 17 facilities powered by solar panels. These encompass production, packaging, filling, and storage lines; a central laboratory; a dedicated research and development (R&D) facility; quality control laboratories; as well as a facility for industrial waste treatment, in addition to administrative and service buildings.
Moreover, Dr. Magdy El-Sayed notes that the targeted local production in the coming years will include vaccines for measles, rubella, meningitis, and seasonal influenza. The first product, however, will be the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, which has already been contracted for local production and export to 19 African countries. This vaccine is considered a priority for the Egyptian government and the region, as it covers 13 types of bacteria.
Following this, production will include the rotavirus vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine against cervical cancer. Manufacturing will also adopt multiple pharmaceutical forms for filling, including pre-filled syringes, ampoules, and vials—facilitating administration for healthcare providers and citizens as well.
