EuropaBio Statement – Vaccine production scale up: International collaboration remains the key

Increasing the manufacturing capacity for vaccines in Europe at such unprecedented scale and in such short timeframes, is a very complex and challenging undertaking. It requires the support of all possible resources in the value chain in Europe and beyond. With the Covid-19 crisis, recent supply tensions in medicines and critical equipment have shown that mobility restrictions due to closure of borders, or exports bans are not the solution to prevent shortages or to ensure continuity of supply for biotechnology-based products.

It is the diversification of manufacturing sources that lowers the risk from local dependency. Many of our EuropaBio members have, over the years, built international manufacturing networks that ensure medicines supply worldwide. It is these diversified and inter-dependant global supply chains that have assured continuity of supply of innovative treatments when the Covid-19 crisis emerged in Europe in the spring of 2020.

In order to avoid future issues for vaccines production, it is critical to build strong and resilient supply chains through international cooperation. The only viable solution is to work together for continued increase of production capacity, ramping up existing facilities and establishing new international production partnerships to create the reliable supply chains needed. This ambition has been recently accelerated through Commissioner Breton’s initiative on vaccine production capacities. It is vital that these joint efforts from EU institutions, governments, regulators and the biotechnology industry are not endangered by short term vaccine mobility restrictions that place national priorities above continuity of global vaccines supplies and production increase.

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