The Government of Colombia signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian company Providence and the Colombian company VaxThera to build a plant for the production of vaccines against covid-19 and other diseases.
This was announced by the Colombian president, Iván Duque, in a ceremony held at the Casa de Nariño where the document was signed.
The announcement comes at a time when Colombia adds 5,099,746 infections and 129,256 fatalities from the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Health reported yesterday.
“Today is a historic day for our country, because the memorandum of understanding between the Republic of Colombia, the Canadian company Providence, of technology and health research, and the Colombian company VaxThera will be signed at this moment. This agreement is to develop vaccine production technology (in our country) ”, highlighted the head of state.
He explained that, in February 2022, VaxThera will begin the construction of the vaccine production plant in Rionegro, which is part of the department of Antioquia (northwest).
Likewise, Duque appreciated that VaxThera, a Colombian company, will be investing a very important sum of “millions of dollars to develop the vaccine production plant in our country, a work that will begin in February 2022.”
According to Duque, with the signing of this agreement, “Colombia recovers its vaccine production capacity after 20 years” and recalled that the investment occurs thanks to what Colombia has been developing with the new Vaccine Law, a regulation through which the country “has clear incentives for investment to arrive and develop.”
For his part, the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, confirmed that, thanks to this agreement, Colombia recovers that vaccine production capacity, and that the country is prepared to face a future pandemic.
“We already have an established schedule of defined investments to have this initiative and others ready (…). This gives us the possibility, with what we have called the Health Security Strategy, to face the next pandemic or whatever comes from the covid, and with a local production capacity that we did not have, “said Ruiz.
Meanwhile, Providence Therapeutics president Bradley Thomas confirmed that the company trusts the science, research and professionalism of medicine in Colombia.
“This opportunity to work with Colombia and with VaxThera helps us achieve that goal. We are very grateful for receiving the support of Colombia’s great scientists and research talent, which will allow us to advance in testing new and better vaccines against covid-19 and other diseases, ”said the executive.
For his part, the president of VaxThera, Jorge Emilio Osorio, stressed that the private company believes in Colombia, in the sense of recovering the country’s capacity to develop science abroad.
“With the new technologies that are going to be brought to Colombia, we will be at the forefront in the production of vaccines such as MRNA,” said Osorio.
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