Morocco to Start Manufacturing COVID-19 Vaccine

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI chaired today in Fez the launch ceremony of the COVID-19 vaccine production project, with the King presiding over the signature of conventions related to the project of manufacturing and distributing the COVID-19 vaccines in Morocco.

The conventions are dedicated to the production of other vital vaccines. The project seeks to allow Morocco to secure self-sufficiency in the sector, announced a statement from the royal cabinet.

The launch of the project is part of the country’s desire to ensure “complete” and “integrated” industrial and biotechnological capacities, devoted to the manufacture of vaccines in Morocco.

Through the project, Morocco further attempts to place itself as a leading biotechnology hub in the African continent and beyond.
Morocco intends to launch the project in the short term with a production capacity of five million doses of COVID-19 vaccines per month. It will slowly expand its capacity in the later stages of the project.
Morocco is set to enlist a global investment budget valued at around $500 million.

The royal cabinet’s statement noted that the launch of the project follows talks between King Mohammed VI and Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 31, 2020.

International experts, including the CEO of the Sinopharm group, Liu Jingzhen, and the CEO of Recipharm, Marc Funk, also gave their vision on the project before the King.
Administration officials and health specialists approved three different agreements following the presentations.
The first agreement was a memorandum of understanding (MoU), incorporating cooperation for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine between Morocco and the National Pharmaceutical Group of China (SINOPHARM). Signing the agreement were Morocco’s Minister of Health, Khalid Ait Taleb, and the President of China’s Sinopharm Group, Liu Jingzhen.
The second agreement is an MoU that comprises the founding of vaccine manufacturing capacities in Morocco for Recipharm.
Minister of Economy Mohamed Benchaaboun signed the MoU with the CEO of Recipharm, Marc Funk, and the representative of the consortium of Moroccan banks, Othmane Benjelloun.
The third agreement, “signed by the Minister Khalid Ait Taleb, and the President and CEO of Sothema, Lamia Tazi,” requires “the provision to the Moroccan State of the aseptic filling facilities of the Moroccan Therapeutic Company (Sothema) for the manufacture of the anti-Covid19 vaccine owned by Sinopharm,” said the statement