ADB approves $336.5m loan for vaccine production

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a $336.5 million loan package to establish domestic vaccine, therapeutics, and diagnostics manufacturing capacity in Bangladesh.

It also aimed to strengthen the national regulator Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to ensure vaccine supply security, reads a press release.

"Our experience with the Covid-19 pandemic exposed challenges in accessing diagnostic testing kits, availability of vaccines, and pandemic preparedness. It highlighted the need to improve self-sufficiency and establish capacity to manufacture vaccines," said ADB Principal Health Specialist Dinesh Arora.

"This project aims to build Bangladesh's resilience against future pandemics, improve vaccine supply security, and reduce the incidence and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases," he added.

The project will establish a vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostics manufacturing facility and warehousing unit in Essential Drugs Company Limited's (EDCL) existing location at Gopalganj, with a capacity to manufacture 58 million vials of vaccines per year.

The ADB loan will support the DGDA to upgrade its regulatory capacity to "WHO maturity level 3" and beyond.

It aims to create a stable, well-functioning, and integrated regulatory system; help foster international collaboration and trade; and improve private sector participation in Bangladesh's pharmaceutical industry.

The project will help EDCL and DGDA train their staff in essential GMPs (good manufacturing practice), quality assurance, quality control, validation, and calibration programmes in compliance with the biosafety levels.