Pakistan advances collaboration with global partners to establish local vaccine-manufacturing plant

KARACHI: Pakistan has stepped up its collaboration with global partners, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, to establish a local vaccine manufacturing plant, aiming to avert a potential medical and financial crisis by achieving self-sufficiency in vaccine production as the supply of subsidised booster doses to the country from international partners comes to an end by 2031, according to an official at the Ministry of National Health Services.

The country currently receives vaccines at concessional rates through global partners, including Gavi, World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“We have recently held a follow-up meeting with international partners like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia to set up a vaccine production plant in Pakistan,” the official told media. “There is a positive development on the project. The work is in progress among Pakistan and its partners to make the vaccines available on time.”

Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulation, and Coordination, Syed Mustafa Kamal recently met a high-level 11-member Saudi delegation, led by Advisor to the Saudi Ministry of Health Nizar bin Hariri, which arrived in Pakistan on a two-day official visit to assess local capacity.

The delegation also visited the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and selected private sector facilities.

“These discussions have been extremely productive. The Saudi delegation has shown strong interest after seeing Pakistan’s technical capacity and potential,” Kamal said. “Indonesia’s state-owned bio-pharmaceutical company has also assured full cooperation and technology transfer, with agreement details nearing finalisation.”

The health minister emphasised that prevention is the foundation of healthcare, adding “vaccines are the first line of defence against disease”.

Pakistan supplies free vaccinations to children against 13 diseases under its routine national immunisation programme that serves a population of nearly 250 million, including about 6.2 million children born each year.

The country currently bears around 51 percent of the cost of vaccine procurement –estimated at USD400 million to USD500 million a year – while 49 percent is covered by international partners. However, this support will gradually decline, and by 2030-31, Pakistan will be required to fully finance vaccine procurement on its own.

“By 2031, Pakistan will have to purchase vaccines entirely from its own resources. At that time, the estimated cost will rise to USD1.2 billion annually,” Minister Kamal said.

To tackle the impending challenge, the Ministry of National Health had spent the past seven months for developing a strategy to establish local vaccine manufacturing in Pakistan, the minister said, adding he personally engaged with health ministers and industry leaders in China, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia to explore collaboration, technology transfer, and investment opportunities.

Kamal said Pakistan aimed not only to achieve self-sufficiency but also to become a regional hub for vaccine production and export.

Pakistan currently requires approximately 140 million vaccine doses annually. However, Kamal said, “production will need to reach at least 300 million doses to achieve economic feasibility, with surplus doses exported to international markets”.

He informed that the country has formulated its first-ever National Vaccine Policy that had been submitted to the prime minister. The policy includes the creation of a Vaccine Alliance, allocation of specific vaccines to selected manufacturers, and government buy-back guarantees to ensure commercial viability.

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) senior vice chairman Kamran Nasir said the collaboration with global partners for local vaccine production was aimed at forming a consortium to set up a big vaccine production plant in Pakistan. “The county may see setting up more than one such plant over a period of time.”

The local interest groups may join the consortium to make the local vaccine production facility a successful project, he added.

“Pakistan has no other option but to establish a local vaccine production plant to successfully avert the medical and financial crisis that may occur around 2030-31,” he said.