Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and Unizima S.A. (“Unizima”), an affiliate of Univercells Group, in Belgium have initiated a collaboration for the establishment of a Bio-manufacturing Training Hub in the country.
President William Ruto who was on a tour of Unizima’s bio manufacturing company, in Jumet, Belgium, accompanied by government officials among them Cabinet Secretary for Health Susan Nakhumicha Wafula, Acting Director General, KEMRI, Prof. Elijah Songok among others, announced on Wednesday, 29th March, 2023, that Kenya and Belgium have agreed to establish a bio manufacturing training hub in the Kenya under Unizima, a Univercells Group a Belgium Biotech company
.Under the initiative, KEMRI will partner with Unizima to advance and formalize their commitment to building a thriving biopharma skills base in Kenya and the wider EastAfrica region.
“The Government of Kenya is committed and determined to realise the constitutional right to health in the shortest time possible by delivering a universal health coverage. We are therefore delighted to initiate a collaboration with Unizima and the Univercells Group as we share a common mission and values. This new partnership is an important step towards building local training and workforce capacities in Kenya, which is crucial for health and wellbeing of the fast growing Kenyan population”. said President Ruto.
On his part KEMRI Acting Director General Prof Elijah Songok noted “We are excited about this partnership with Unizima in Belgium that will surely provide KEMRI with expertise, advisory support, training and technology particularly in the area of bio manufacturing ecosystem which is fundamental to the Kenyan people. KEMRI is living its mission of providing leadership in human health research, capacity building and service delivery, and this landmark initiative with the Belgians is a clear indication.”
Chief Executive Officer of Unizima, Hala Audi concluded, “This new partnership with Kenya, after ground- breaking collaborations in Senegal and South Africa, continues our approach to work hand in hand with partners in Africa who are investing in their own new biopharma capability.”
The collaboration will include among other areas, building the right training and research ecosystem, that will ensure that end to end research and development and manufacturing of biologicals, expertise, advisory support, and technology transfer.
Kenyan healthcare and research leaders who are driving this initiative include; KEMRI, Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital, Kenya Biovax Institute, Egerton University and the Pharmacy and Poison Board.
As Kenya prepares for significant inwards investment in biotechnology and biomanufacturing over the coming years, the government is building the human capital and workforce development needed to ensure this investment brings real improvement in access to vaccines and biotherapeutics for patients in Kenya and the region.
This project is in line with the governments agenda of advancing the economic pillar of local manufacturing and the development objective on Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
