Two and a half years ago, precisely on January 27, 2022, King Mohammed VI chaired the ceremony to launch the construction works of the largest medicine and vaccine production complex not only in Morocco, but also on the entire African continent.
This project, located near Ben Slimane in the Casablanca-Settat region, became a reality thanks to a royal will, transforming Morocco into a sovereign country in terms of medicines and vaccines, far from dependence on other producing countries and controlling the manufacture of medicines and vaccines.
This gigantic Moroccan project has helped secure the continent’s health needs in the short term and will play a crucial role in securing Africa’s needs for medicines and vaccines in the long term, by integrating pharmaceutical research, clinical development, manufacturing and marketing of essential biopharmaceutical products.
The construction of this plant required an investment of around 500 million euros, and Ben Slimane’s project includes three production lines with a total capacity of 116 million units per year.
These lines are intended for the production of pre-filled syringes, vials for liquids and lyophilized products, and have quickly made it possible to ensure self-sufficiency in vaccines for the kingdom and to make Morocco a leading platform in biotechnology in Africa and in the world in the field of pharmaceutical packaging.
This industrial unit, named “Sensio Pharma”, is considered the largest vaccine packaging platform in Africa in terms of capacity, and is among the first five of its kind in the world.
In relation to this subject, Khalid Ait Taleb confirmed in a parliamentary response that Morocco is capable of producing 70% of its drug needs, including generics.
The Minister of Health and Social Protection stressed that the vaccine factory, for which King Mohammed VI gave instructions during the Covid-19 period, made it possible to produce 100% of vaccine needs at the national level, as well as export to Africa and contribute to strengthening continental pharmaceutical sovereignty.
The ministerial official stressed that Morocco needs 22 million doses of vaccines each year, of various types, while the factory currently produces 144 million doses of vaccine, adding that there is a ministerial strategic orientation to encourage the local industry not only in medicines, but also in medical supplies, because pharmaceutical sovereignty is not limited only to medicines.
