Africa uses more than a billion vaccine doses a year. Almost none of them are made on the continent.
A new long-term deal is trying to close that gap.
Africa CDC is the public health arm of the African Union. On Tuesday, it said it is in talks with Aspen on a multi-year deal for vaccines made in Africa.
The news came on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi.
The talks cover three things. First, which vaccines get made first. Second, how fast supply can grow. The stated goal is "tens to hundreds of millions of doses" a year over time. Third, how prices line up with global rates.
No deal has been signed yet. The plan itself is the news.
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Aspen has already put many billions of rand into a sterile site in Gqeberha, South Africa. The firm ships drugs to more than 115 countries.
In short, the means to make vaccines in Africa is there. The missing piece has been steady buyers.
A drug firm will not keep big lines running for doses that may or may not sell at fair prices. Buyers need to commit before makers will scale up.
A multi-year buying plan is what Africa CDC is putting on the table. That turns the region from a one-off market into a steady client.
For folks who watch pharma, this is part of a broader shift. Rich countries used to set the market for vaccines. That is starting to change.
Africa CDC is also running a pooled buying plan. It lets African states buy as a group, not one at a time.
That is the same trick the EU used during COVID. It got lower prices and faster shipping than any single country could.
For Aspen, multi-year African orders are the kind of repeat revenue line that gets priced into the stock. Global drug firms now have one more sign that the buyer base for shots is shifting south.
No deal has been signed yet. Africa CDC chief Jean Kaseya called the talks an important step toward turning Africa's vaccine goals into a real market.
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