Egypt's Acting Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar met with Helen Young, the General Manager of Sinovac Biotech, to discuss ways of cooperating, the health ministry said in a statement on Monday. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar — the Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population — said that the meeting discussed files of cooperation between the Holding Company for Biopharmaceuticals and Vaccines (VACSERA) and the Chinese company Sinovac as well as the executive steps for the transfer and localisation of vaccine manufacturing technology according to specific timetables. Abdel Ghaffar added that the two sides addressed the possibility of cooperation between the two companies to establish a centre for clinical trials in addition to establishing an applied research centre within VACSERA's complex of factories in Sixth of October City. He further noted that the minister discussed opportunities for exchanging experiences with regard to tracing the genetic sequence of the coronavirus and its mutations and sharing it with Sinovac as part of efforts to develop vaccines against the new variations of the virus. The minister also pointed to the importance of continuing the Egyptian-Chinese partnership in transferring manufacturing technology to various types of vaccines, which qualifies Egypt to be a major hub for the production of vaccines in Africa. Moreover, Heba Wali — the CEO of VACSERA — explained that the Chinese delegation is visiting to inspect the factories of VACSERA and to determine the extent of their readiness within the framework of the ongoing cooperation to transfer vaccine manufacturing technology to Egypt, in addition to field follow-up to construct a cooling complex according to the specified schedules, noting that the complex is scheduled to be completed by the end of June.
