“The economic benefits are potentially huge, but difficult to quantify today.”

Financial News Weekly: The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of a country’s independence in vaccine production. Where is Morocco now in this sense?

Abdelmadjid Belaiche: A country’s pharmaceutical sovereignty involves its ability to obtain a regular and sustainable supply of pharmaceutical products, especially vaccines. This can only be fully achieved through the local production of these medical supplies, in order to avoid as much as possible dependence on third countries for the supply of vaccines and not to be in competition with other countries during periods of peak demand for these products. Today the question arises: “Has our country achieved its goals in this area”? Answer: “Not really, it’s still ongoing.” Indeed, if in the field of vaccination animals, two national organizations, namely BCI, a private laboratory, and Biopharma, a government agency under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture, are very active, which cannot be said about the production of vaccines for humans. This is despite the colossal investments that have been mobilized for the construction of the Marbio “Ex-Sensyo” vaccine production plant in Benslimane and the launch of the production of Sinopharm “Fil & Finish” vaccines by Sothema laboratories in 2021.

FNH: At this stage, is Morocco on the right path to becoming a regional leader in vaccine production in a few years? And what steps does the Kingdom still need to take to become a continental hub for pharmaceutical biotechnology?

AB: Reasons for delay in Vaccine production in Morocco is numerous and complex. First of all, we must remember the complexity of the biotechnology required to produce modern vaccines, particularly RNA vaccines. Additionally, there has been a change in the global health context with the virtual demise of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has radically changed the profile of vaccine demand, which has moved from an almost exclusive demand for Covid-19 vaccines (mainly in 2021) to a return to lower volume demand and, above all, more dispersed across several types of vaccines for classical infections. This change in the demand profile for vaccines has had a negative impact on economies of scale in vaccine production at the global level. Actually, In 2021, vaccine demand has largely focused on Covid vaccines, while the post-Covid period has seen a return to vaccines for more common viral or bacterial infections.

These changes at the global level are likely to dampen the appetite for investment and partnerships in vaccine production. However, we must never forget the fact that the future of the world is likely to bring new environmental and health threats, as well as the threat of viral pandemics. This means that the investments made and efforts made in Morocco are not a loss, since they represent a striking force against possible future pandemics. Also they represent a chance to diversify into producing a wider range of vaccines to meet different supply needs. This investment will also allow Morocco to position itself as a true vaccination hub on our continent and as the center of vaccine sovereignty for the country and Africa. It must also be remembered that to produce a vaccine it is not enough to have an ultra-modern, well-equipped production facility certified to the latest standards with qualified personnel. You will also need to have the necessary approvals from foreign partner laboratories and reliable files for marketing authorization (AMM) requests. This is time-consuming, not to mention the time required to obtain these approvals and inspections by the authorities in charge of the pharmaceutical sector.

FNH: What economic and health benefits can be expected from Morocco’s investment 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 Covid-19, our country will be able to quickly achieve optimal vaccination coverage of its population at a much lower cost than what was paid in 2021 to purchase coronavirus vaccines. Let us recall that the cost of importing vaccines amounted to almost 6 billion dirhams. This then exacerbated our pharmaceutical trade deficit, which rose from -AED6.8 billion in 2020 to -AED12.6 billion in 2021. This very high cost is of course largely justified by the health benefits in terms of availability and access to Covid vaccines, and in terms of vaccinating large numbers of people, resulting in less loss of life compared to other countries.

However, local production of these vaccines would not only ease our pharmaceutical trade balance and achieve significant foreign exchange savings, but also significantly improve our pharmaceutical exports, contribute to our industrial value addition and create employment opportunities for the youth. Graduates. Thanks to very significant investments in vaccine production, Morocco is finally entering high-level biotechnology, without forgetting that the mastery of biopharmaceutical know-how will subsequently allow the transition to other products with high economic and added health value. such as monoclonal antibodies used in the treatment of cancer and other chronic diseases. This will also allow you to save significantly on medications, which are among the most expensive today.