Intellectual property and local pharmaceutical production : Defining the need and meeting the challenge

Whether ‘local production’ of vaccines in Africa is a legitimate and feasible way to improve access and reduce costs has been repeatedly debated. Shortages of vaccines caused by export bans and protectionist measures at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic have reinvigorated interest in the issue of local production for ‘self-sustenance’. Even though local production has been promoted by some as a solution, the reality remains that locally produced vaccines could even be more expensive and unaffordable than imported ones. Also, the vaccine sector is a high-tech sector requiring different sets of complex skills and competencies lacking in Africa. For Africa, challenges such as high cost of production, use of older technology, the availability and cost of financing, market size, access to active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) suppliers, and unreliable supporting infrastructure could make local production of vaccines economically unviable and even unrealistic. However, the gauntlet thrown down by the COVID-19 pandemic has suggested that local production in Africa may be inevitable for the continent’s health security and could be an idea whose time has come. Building on the mRNA technology transfer hub programme of the WHO, which seeks to establish sustainable, local mRNA manufacturing capabilities in six African countries, the chapter maps the intellectual property challenges that might impact the initiative’s sustainability and provides recommendations on how to enhance its chances of success.

© 2025 selection and editorial matter, Olasupo Owoeye; individual chapters, the contributors.