"This state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing unit is part of a much broader initiative to propel Morocco into a new era of health sciences that includes the eventual implementation of a new industrial ecosystem as well as a pole of excellence and innovation dedicated to the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology," he said in an interview with MAP.

Regarding the pole of excellence and innovation, explained Benjelloun, it will integrate the entire value chain of the pharmaceutical industry, thus raising our Kingdom to the rank of continental and global player.

Thanks to pharmaceutical research, clinical development, manufacturing in accordance with the highest international standards as well as the marketing of biopharmaceutical products, Morocco will meet the challenge of serving the continent and the world with much needed medicines, he stressed.

"Our ambition to become a regional and international hub for the manufacture and distribution of vaccines could serve in the medium and long term as a source of inspiration for many African countries ... We have already been approached by continental investors to identify opportunities for collaboration, technology transfer, and co-investment in local production units, "said Benjelloun.

On the impact that this industrial unit will have on health security and vaccine sovereignty of the Kingdom and the African Continent, the president of "Sensyo Pharmatech" said that HM King Mohammed VI recalled, in August 2021 in the speech to the Nation on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the Throne Day, the importance of medical sovereignty.

This industrial unit for the manufacture of vaccines and biotherapies is the starting point for the achievement of pharmaceutical and health sovereignty of the Kingdom, he underlined. This is, according to him, all the more important as the current health crisis has shown that Africa must now rely only on its own means, its own health infrastructure and its own human resources.

Noting that vaccination against Covid-19 of African populations relies, for the time being, mainly on donations and exports from the United States, China, and some European countries, Benjelloun noted that with a massive production capacity of doses, the unit of "Sensyo Pharmatech" will contribute to the initiative to accelerate the self-sufficiency of Africa in vaccines against Covid-19 and other pharmaceuticals that the continent needs.

He also stressed that this industrial project is part of the vision of HM the King to establish in the Kingdom a "continental champion" in the field of biotechnology in the next 5 years.