J&J’s Deal with Aspen Paves the Way for Africa’s First Local COVID Shot

South Africa’s Aspen has made progress on its path to vaccine sovereignty after landing a “game-changer” COVID-19 vaccine licensing deal with Johnson & Johnson.

What the deal means

The deal will allow Aspen to manufacture and distribute the J&J COVID shot in Africa. According to a J&J press release, the goal of this deal is to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates across the continent.

J&J will provide the South African manufacturer drug substances to produce finished, Aspen-branded vaccines for the African public sector.

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These shots will be available to all 55 African Union member states, plus multilateral organizations supporting Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts, such as the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust and the COVAX Facility.

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The company has already begun packaging J&J’s vaccine at its factory in South Africa and plans to market the single-dose shot in Africa under the moniker Aspenovax, Stavros Nicolaou, Ph.D., group senior executive of strategic trade at Aspen Pharma Group, told Fierce Pharma in December.

At the time, Nicolaou described the forthcoming licensing deal as “monumental” on two counts, according to Fierce Pharma:

• First, an Aspen branded shot would “de facto” provide Africa with its first COVID-19 vaccine, Nicolaou said.
• Second, the pact would go a long way toward building local vaccine manufacturing capacity on the continent.

“With the conclusion of this agreement, our vision for Africa’s own vaccine has become a reality,” Stephen Saad, Aspen Group chief executive, said in a statement.

Why global vaccination efforts are key

Global vaccination efforts, such as these, are crucial to controlling the pandemic and curbing the risk of new emerging variants, according to J&J. As of now, roughly 12% of people in Africa are fully vaccinated. This number is well below the World Health Organization’s 70% vaccination threshold, J&J added.

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Johnson & Johnson says it has already shipped more than 200 million vaccine doses to Africa through a mix of purchase agreements and government donations.

Similarly, mRNA players Moderna and BioNTech have been working on their own African vaccine manufacturing plans.

Last month Pfizer-partnered BioNTech said its plan would hinge on modular factories housed in shipping containers. Dubbed BioNTainers, the portable mRNA plants, are kitted out to make the company’s COVID-19 vaccine from start to finish, save for the final fill-finish step, Fierce Pharma notes. The company has plans to set up its modular factories in Senegal, Rwanda and potentially South Africa.

Meanwhile, Moderna recently shared that they have tapped Kenya as the country for its $500 million mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant in Africa. The facility was first announced in October and aims to produce up to 500 million vaccine doses a year. Moderna is also working toward getting the plant built and operational to fill doses of its COVID-19 vaccines in Africa by 2023, depending on pandemic demand.