The Director General of World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, has congratulated Rwanda over the shipment of containers of the first BioNTainer- facilities equipped to manufacture a range of mRNA-based vaccines.

On March 13, Rwanda acquired the six ISO-sized shipping containers for the first BioNTainer constructed in Europe aimed at scaling the production of vaccines in Africa.

ALSO READ: Rwanda to partner with BioNTech for local manufacture of mRNA vaccines

Commenting on the development, President Paul Kagame labelled it as a historic milestone as the first BioNTech Group BioNTainers arrived in Rwanda.

"Exactly three years since the first case of Covid-19 was detected in our country. This system will allow end-to-end mRNA vaccine production in Africa for the first time,” he tweeted.

Our thanks and appreciation to Uğur Şahin, and Özlem Türeci, the founders of BioNTech company, and Sierk Pötting, Chief Operating Officer of BioNTech, as well as other outstanding partnerships in the health arena, on the continent and worldwide.

Ghebreyesus, thereby, tweeted "Indeed, this is history in making, my brother President Paul Kagame. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to make vaccine equity in Africa a reality!”

Vaccines to be manufactured in this Africa-wide network will be dedicated to people residing in member states of the African Union, with the aim to support access to novel medicines.

Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) is a next-generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company exploits a wide array of computational discovery and therapeutic drug platforms for the rapid development of novel biopharmaceuticals

BioNTech has been developing and building its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kigali following its groundbreaking in June 2022.

The facility will be housing the first BioNTainers and is expected to become a node in a decentralized and robust end-to-end manufacturing network in Africa.

A look at the modular factory

BioNTech’s first modular factory is made out of shipping containers. Dubbed a BioNTainer, the factory was built in Europe and inspected by the company's manufacturing experts.

Roughly, each BioNTainer consists of one drug substance and one formulation module for a total footprint of about 800 square meters.

The units will be able to crank out about 50 million doses a year of BioNTech's Pfizer-partnered COVID-19 vaccine, according to company’s executives.

This isn't BioNTech's only move to bolster production in Africa.

The German-based company is still working to build its own manufacturing base in Kigali, where the first BioNTainers will be stationed.

Aside from Kigali, BioNTech says it plans to ship BioNTainers to Senegal and "potentially” South Africa.

Aside from COVID vaccines, BioNTech is also using its mRNA platform to advance malaria and tuberculosis vaccine candidates.

Eventually, BioNTech says it hopes to produce those vaccines with its BioNTainers.

The Kigali site is expected to hire a staff of 100 by 2024. BioNTech has said vaccine production should begin within a year of delivery of the BioNTainers