DHAKA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan package of 336.5 million U.S. dollars to establish domestic vaccine, therapeutics, and diagnostics manufacturing capacity in Bangladesh and strengthen its national regulator to ensure vaccine supply security.
"Our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic exposed challenges in accessing diagnostic testing kits, availability of vaccines, and pandemic preparedness. It highlighted the need to improve self-sufficiency and establish capacity to manufacture vaccines," said ADB principal health specialist Dinesh Arora in a statement on Wednesday.
"This project aims to build Bangladesh's resilience against future pandemics, improve vaccine supply security, and reduce the incidence and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases," said the specialist.
According to the Manila-based lender, the project will establish a comprehensive vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostics manufacturing facility, along with a warehousing unit in Bangladesh's Essential Drugs Company Limited's existing location in Gopalganj, with a capacity to manufacture 58 million vials of vaccines per year.
An in-house research and development center will also be established to support the production of diagnostic kits and packaging of biosimilar therapeutics, it said.
ADB said the project is financed through its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility, an initiative worth 9 billion dollars that was launched in December 2020, in order to provide rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to ADB's developing members. ■
