Dear subscriber,
As Africa pushes to make more of its own vaccines, new manufacturers face two hurdles: Finding the money to get started and finding buyers for what they make. Zambia’s new venture offers a way to tackle both.
Treezer Michelle Atieno - Editor
Vaccine manufacturing requires high upfront investment and public-private partnerships offer a way to finance entry into the industry without leaving that burden to private investors alone. ZAMVAX, a new venture between the Zambian government’s development corporation and Jijia, a Chinese medical technology company, is adopting this approach.
The development corporation will own 60% and Jijia 40%. Their proposed $24 million first phase would establish capacity to fill and package up to 20 million cholera vaccine doses annually, using imported bulk vaccine material. Antigen production would follow in a later phase. Biovac is the earliest example of this model. It illustrates how public backing can help establish both a company and its market.
Established in 2003 by the South African government and the private Biovac Consortium, its original agreement provided a market supplying public immunisation programmes. It progressed from packaging to filling and finishing vaccines, secured $128 million for expansion by May 2026, and now manufactures a candidate for Africa’s first end-to-end locally produced cholera vaccine, currently in clinical trials. But two other similar partnerships, in Nigeria and Morocco have not worked well.
Our take: Public-private partnerships can give vaccine manufacturers a start through investment and an initial market but the companies should grow and compete in the global market…Read more (2 min)
When a buyer pays late, the supplier has to finance the stock for longer. That cost will show up in the price of medicines. Health economist Noemi Schramm Ndao makes the case in public procurement, but the same lesson applies to other healthcare businesses: Reliable payment gives buyers room to negotiate better prices.
“Most of all, it means reducing payment delays. Suppliers need transparency and predictability on how much they'll be paid and when. Any uncertainty and any delay gets priced in as a premium, and that erodes the value for money governments get,” says Schramm Ndao.
For a clinic or pharmacy buying on credit, the practical step is to ask suppliers for different payment terms. A lower price for earlier payment can make sense if the business has the cash to spare.
Read the full opinion…Read more (2 min)
Healthtech start-ups in Africa raised at least $41.2 million in funding in October. ABA Life from Morocco led October’s tracker with a $40 million investment agreement to expand its medical services. The investment will help ABA Life expand its telemedicine and clinical services and develop its artificial intelligence tools.
Tanzania’s Medikea announced $1.2 million in pre-seed funding and plans to grow from four clinics to ten by the end of 2027. The company is using the funding to expand in-person care alongside digital services.
October coverage also highlighted Boehringer Ingelheim’s debt investments in Kenya’s Penda Health and Egypt’s Chefaa. Neither company disclosed its investment amount.
Our take: Investors are backing healthcare businesses that already work with pharmacies and hospitals, where they can offer more services to patients and clinicians they serve…Read more (2 min)
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EASE raises $9.5 million for medical equipment in South Africa and Ghana
Events
🗓️ Attend the Global Health Supply Chain Summit in Ethiopia (Nov 17)
🗓️ Join the International Conference on Public Health in Africa in Ethiopia (Nov 23)
🗓️ Attend the African Society for Laboratory Medicine Conference in SA (Dec 8)
Jobs
🧑⚕️ Join Sightsavers as Country Director (Kenya)
🧑⚕️ Join UNICEF as Health Specialist, Economics and Financing (Kenya)
🧑⚕️ Apply to be Director of Corporate Services at Mpumalanga Health (SA)
Various
💉 Botswan begins local antiretroviral medicine production
💉 African Medicines Agency launches hubs supporting manufacturing
💉 The WHO estimates heat warnings return $835 per dollar invested
Seen on LinkedIn
Mohamed Janabi, World Health Organisation Regional Director for Africa, says, “Africa does not need another layer of health financing initiatives. We need a better way to translate country priorities into sound investments.”