Only state can deploy its own vaccine production in Ukraine – opinion
Only the state can deploy its own vaccine production in Ukraine, for this it is necessary to give guarantees of purchase for at least 10 years, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Darnitsa Group Dmytro Shymkiv has said.
"The world is moving towards building a biological safety system. Ukraine has already faced a shortage of vaccines against COVID-19. Localization of vaccine production through technology transfer could be the best solution to the situation," he told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on possibilities of creating vaccine production in Ukraine.
According to Shymkiv's calculations, in particular, the volume of production of COVID-19 vaccines should be about 40 million doses; a consortium with the participation of local and international pharmaceutical manufacturers could be created to organize such production.
"Only the state can deploy its own vaccine production in the country – its role in this process is decisive. It is necessary to create legislative conditions, determine the volume and give guarantees of purchase for at least 10 years. We have offered this model to the government. A similar example exists in Australia, where a consortium has been created with the participation of local and international pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the state has undertaken the obligation to purchase a certain amount within a certain period," he said.
Shymkiv said that the Darnitsa pharmaceutical company was working on a case for production of vaccines. "Technologically, it is not so difficult to produce the same RNA vaccine, the cost of creating such production is about $10-15 million. There are necessary specialists in Ukraine, Darnitsa and a number of other companies are ready to invest in this," he said.
Shymkiv noted that before the pandemic, the Ministry of Health purchased an average of 5 million doses of vaccines for 10 infectious diseases included in the national vaccination schedule per year.
Darnitsa is the leader of the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market in quantity terms. The company was established in 1930. The portfolio's strategic directions are cardiology, neurology and pain management.
