President Cyril Ramaphosa has described the newly launched CSIR FuturePHARMA facility as a “game changing facility” that will strengthen South Africa’s ability to develop vaccines and medicines locally and prepare for future pandemics.
Speaking to media following the launch of the facility at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) campus in Tshwane on Wednesday, President Ramaphosa said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated the importance of developing domestic pharmaceutical capabilities and reducing reliance on products developed outside the country.
He said FuturePHARMA would give South Africa the capacity to conduct research and develop the products needed to respond rapidly to future health emergencies.
READ | President launches FuturePHARMA facility to strengthen SA’s health sovereignty
“This is a game changing facility. It's going to enable us to be pandemic-ready whenever there are pandemics of any type, will be able to have a facility that is ready for the immediate research and development of all the capabilities that we will need to develop vaccines,” the President said.
President Ramaphosa said the country has drawn important lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly around the importance of health sovereignty.
“We have learned a lot of lessons out of COVID-19. We learnt that we needed to have our own health sovereignty and that means we should not be relying on outside products.”
He said the new capability would allow South Africa to develop pharmaceutical products domestically, rather than depend on external sources.
President Ramaphosa reflected on the experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, when South African scientists were involved in vaccine development but the country’s ability to benefit fully from that scientific capability was constrained by existing contractual arrangements.
“We were developing vaccines, as I said, but they were being courted out of our country because they had contracts with the capabilities that we had here,” the President said.
He said FuturePHARMA would help to change that position by establishing a local platform capable of supporting pharmaceutical development.
The President also highlighted the leadership and scientific expertise already present in South Africa’s research and innovation ecosystem.
“Now we are going to have our own capability to be able to develop vaccines. [Health Minister] Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will lead the medicines development process, while [Science, Technology and Innovation Minister] Dr Blade Nzimande will lead the research, innovation and technological development. At the leadership level, we have the capabilities, and we have the scientists, researchers and innovators,” the President said.
FuturePHARMA is intended to bring these capabilities together with specialised infrastructure that can support pharmaceutical process development, scale-up technology transfer, and progression towards clinical and commercial pathways.
Opening the facility to entrepreneurs and industry
President Ramaphosa said the facility's significance extends beyond government and the public research system, as FuturePHARMA will be open to private sector companies and entrepreneurs seeking to develop health products.
The open-access model is intended to allow innovators and businesses to make use of specialised infrastructure and expertise that may otherwise be too costly to establish independently.
For the President, this approach can help to strengthen the country’s pharmaceutical industry, while creating opportunities for South African innovation to move from research into products and commercial applications.
“That's why I say this is a game changing facility for our country,” he said.
The ambition, President Ramaphosa, is not only to strengthen South Africa’s capabilities but to make them available to the rest of the continent.
“It puts us nearly on par with more developed economies and that's where we are headed. However, we also make it available for Africa, our beloved continent,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
