BANGI: A collaboration was sealed to kickstart the development of human vaccines in Malaysia to pave the way toward health security.
Malaysian Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals (MPV) Healthcare, Pfizer Malaysia, and the National Institute of Biotechnology (NIBM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Jan 30 at Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute (MGVI).
These three parties will work together to identify the gaps in the vaccine ecosystem, coordinate local vaccine companies and enhance research for infectious diseases.
The project aims to future-proof vaccine development that provides broad protection against pandemic threats or the emergence of any new infectious disease.
The Malaysian Government has given the mandate to NIBM-MGVI to explore the opportunities and coordinate the efforts among stakeholders involved in the vaccine ecosystem in November 2021.
“This initiative complements the direction set under the National Vaccine Development Roadmap (NVDR). Vaccine development is one of the subset roles under healthcare and wellness thrust in the National Biotechnology Policy 2.0 (NBP 2.0) that was launched last September,” said Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation during his speech.
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”block” ihc_mb_who=”unreg” ihc_mb_template=”3″ ]“This project will boost the local companies to develop homegrown vaccines and build a vaccine ecosystem.”
He said vaccines are becoming crucial for a country’s preparedness in facing future pandemics.
“To accelerate Malaysia’s aspiration to become a vaccine–producing nation by 2030, public-private partnership is the way forward to build a sustainable vaccine development platform,” he said.
“As MVP is the only vaccine manufacturer in Malaysia with more than 32 years’ experience, we feel it is our obligation to lead the initiative in fulfilling the NDVR and ensure the nation’s objective for health security is met,” said Rashidah Ibrahim, Executive Director of MVP.
“ In the short term, we hope to come to a consensus on a concrete plan for mapping out the building blocks of a sustainable vaccine ecosystem. These building blocks such as technology transfer; research & development, said Jay Padasian, Director of the Solution Biologics Sdn Bhd, a local vaccine-producing company.
He added that building a commercially viable and integrated, multi-platform vaccine manufacturing infrastructure is essential to help Malaysia in its efforts to build vaccine capabilities and capacity.
He is hoping for an All-of-Government approach to ensure that this public-private collaboration is a success.
The Minister said on clinical trials, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be roped in to ease the regulatory process. [/ihc-hide-content]
