Group 42 and Sinopharm JV to Manufacture COVID-19 Vaccine in Abu Dhabi

Made in UAE vaccines to be called Hayat-Vax

Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42) and Chinese pharma major Sinopharm have formed a Joint Venture (JV) to manufacture the Beijing Institute of Biological Product's COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Reuters report.

The vaccine is already in production by Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) at their Ras Al Khaimah plant since it was approved for general distribution by the UAE Government in December last year. The unit has the capacity to produce 2 millon doses a year.

Now the JV has decided to scale things up by setting up a new plant at Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), with a production capacity of 200 million doses a year. The first batches are expected to roll out later this year.

The Made in UAE vaccines will be called Hayat-Vax and they will be the first vaccine mass produced in the Arab World.

The joint venture also has provisions for the setting up of a state-of-the-art R&D center for biotech and vaccine production.

Further details on distribution of the manufactured vaccines - including transport and logistics - are awaited.

Kizad