The United Arab Emirates announced they would begin manufacturing of Hayat-Vax, the first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine in the region through a partnership with China to make millions of doses of its state-backed Sinopharm vaccine.
A newly-created joint venture between Sinopharm CNBG and Abu Dhabi-based G42 aims to produce up to 200 million doses annually at a new plant that will become operational this year, the companies said in a statement. Production on a smaller scale has already started at an existing Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries PSC plant with a capacity of two million doses of the coronavirus vaccine per month.
Last year, Sinopharm was trialed in the UAE but for local production it has been renamed Hayat-Vax (Hayat means life in Arabic).
“The advancement in Life Sciences and Vaccine Manufacturing in our country is UAE’s contribution towards global efforts to address the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected the whole world,” said His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
“The UAE, with the guidance of its wise leadership, believes in the importance of strengthening collective international action,” he added.
With the accord, the UAE becomes the first nation in the US-allied Gulf to set up a Covid-19 vaccine production facility, boosting its efforts to become a supply hub to the Middle East and beyond. G42, which describes itself as an artificial intelligence and cloud computing firm.
Madhukar Tanna, CEO at Pharmax Pharmaceuticals in the UAE told Arabian Business: “This is an excellent development for UAE. It will be a fill and finish facility with testing capabilities. It will boost local capabilities of various other biologics, vaccines and related products. Another important angle is ability to provide vaccines in large regional markets such as Iraq, Africa, Yemen and North Africa.
“In a way, this is a backward integration of exceptional logistics capability that Abu Dhabi has built through partnership with Etihad Airways and Rafed [health consultants] as world class storage and distribution of vaccines.
“Lastly, globally, there are very few such facilities that exist meeting biological safety levels, hence additional capacity will be of immense help in timely production and distribution.”
And, Jeff Kemprecos, Director of Communications, Government Affairs and Market Access for GSK Gulf said: “The Hope Consortium and the recently announced agreement to start vaccine production in Abu Dhabi is consistent with the emirate’s aspirations to rise as a global top 20 competitor in innovative biopharmaceutical research, development, manufacturing and exports.
“As a globally-leading healthcare company, GSK is working closely with policy-makers and senior officials in Abu Dhabi to craft policies that will position Abu Dhabi as a highly attractive location for investment, employment and innovation in the life sciences sector”.
The UAE has since overseen one of the world’s fastest inoculation drives, with most people having received the Chinese vaccine.
“I do believe there is huge demand in the region right now,” G42 Group CEO Peng Xiao said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We are talking to over 20 countries in the region alone who are very interested in accessing the vaccine.” Talks are also ongoing with countries in Central and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America, he said.
“Thanks to the close collaboration with the UAE, Sinopharm’s vaccine has been now administered to millions of people in the country, the region, and the world in a fundamental step towards defeating this virus,” Sinopharm’s chairman Liu Jingzhen said in the statement.
The deal will bolster the UAE’s ties with Beijing, which have strengthened since 2018 when President Xi Jinping visited Abu Dhabi and agreed to upgrade relations to China’s highest level. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was in the UAE for an official visit, said on Saturday the countries will expedite bilateral production of vaccines.
“It is a really clear signal that the UAE is China’s most trusted partner in the Middle East and it creates linkages with other countries in the region” said Jonathan Fulton, assistant professor at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed University and a specialist in China-Gulf relations.
Beijing has been building stronger Middle East links as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. On Saturday, it signed a 25-year deal with Iran outlining economic, political and trade relations. That poses an immediate challenge to US President Joe Biden’s administration as it seeks leverage with Tehran over resurrecting the 2015 nuclear deal.
Fulton described the Iran deal as aspirational. “The UAE relationship is not aspirational, they are deep into the implementation of it,” he said. “This shows the depth and the breadth of the involvement.”
The UAE is keen to expand its influence in China and other fast-growing markets in Asia. China was the UAE’s second-largest trading partner in 2019 after India, with $55.9 billion in total trade – more than double what it had with the US that year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Supply hub
While the UAE has approved vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc, as well as Russia’s Sputnik V, its inoculation program hinged on Sinopharm given early availability and the potential to produce the shots locally – key to the UAE’s aspirations of becoming a supply centre.
“Our JV is also actively looking to bring our capabilities to new markets around the world,” Xiao said in the statement.
The Sinopharm vaccine can be transported and stored at normal refrigerated temperatures, making it a candidate for the developing world. The company’s annual production capacity for Covid vaccines is set to reach three billion doses, the People’s Daily reported.
In November, Abu Dhabi launched the Hope Consortium, a logistics grouping with the capacity to distribute more than six billion vaccine doses. The consortium includes the emirate’s Department of Health, Etihad Cargo, Abu Dhabi Ports Group, Rafed and SkyCell.
In neighbouring Dubai, companies including Emirates airline, ports operator DP World and Dubai Airports have also formed an alliance to move two billion doses of vaccines around the world this year, focusing on emerging markets.
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