September 4, 2023, SEOUL, Republic of Korea – The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), EuBiologics, and DEK Vaccines Limited (DEK) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today at Ghana’s National Vaccine Institute establishing a new partnership to support the fill and finish of the EuBiologics oral cholera vaccine (OCV) in DEK’s manufacturing facilities in Ghana. Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta, and Hon. Kobian Tahir Hammond, Ghana’s Ministers of Health, Finance, and Trade and Industry, respectively, presided over the ceremony and other Ghanian and Korean embassy officials attended the event.
IVI, a non-profit international organization with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, developed OCV and holds the intellectual property for the vaccine, transferring the technology to manufacturers around the world, especially Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers. To date, IVI has or is currently transferring OCV technology to six manufacturers, including EuBiologics in the Republic of Korea who is currently the largest producer of OCV and will be the only supplier to the global health market by the end of the year.
Through this new tripartite partnership, IVI and EuBiologics plan to transfer OCV fill and finish technology to DEK, enabling domestic production, purchase, and sales of OCV. Additionally, the MOU outlines further collaborative activities including support for OCV clinical trials in Ghana and other African countries, sufficiently scaling up vaccine production capacity, and gaining regulatory approvals.
Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, said: “We are delighted to partner with EuBiologics and DEK to enable fill and finish of oral cholera vaccine in Ghana. This technology transfer agreement would not only increase the availability of OCV in Ghana in the face of a global shortage but will strengthen national manufacturing capabilities in the process and marks a clear step toward achieving vaccine self-reliance not only in Ghana but for the African continent.”
Dr. Kyeong-Ho Min, Vice President of EuBiologics, said: “With global warming leading to more frequent droughts and floods, cholera outbreaks are rising globally, and vaccine supply is not keeping up with demand. This partnership will help increase supply and significantly contribute to preventing the spread of cholera in Africa.”
Dr. Kofi Nsiah-Poku, Managing Director of DEK, said: “I’m very happy with this partnership with IVI and EuBiologics through which we are going to make oral cholera vaccine in Accra, Ghana to supply Africa, and we hope to do this with typhoid conjugate vaccine as well. This partnership has been very important because it’s bringing technology to Africa, and we hope that we can continue to work closely with IVI and participate in technology transfer so that we can spread it across Africa for the benefit of Africans.”
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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.
IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that is currently under assessment for WHO PQ.
IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden and Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 39 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, Finland, and Thailand provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.
CONTACT
Aerie Em, Global Communications & Advocacy Manager
+82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int