NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya will, in the next two years, begin trials of its first locally manufactured vaccines in a move expected to give more than three million children access to affordable, life-saving jabs.
The Kenya BioVax Institute, backed by Ksh. 8 billion in World Bank funding, says three vaccines — targeting pneumonia and typhoid — will be ready for clinical trials by 2027.
The development marks a major step towards self-reliance in vaccine supply and reducing dependence on global procurement chains that have faced repeated disruptions.
“Vaccine manufacturing is not like any other form of manufacturing… and I’m happy to report that groundwork has been done. We are at that critical stage where, with a lot of certainty, we can say that in the next 24 months we will roll out our first BioVax vaccine,” said the institute’s CEO, Dr. Charles Githinji, during a stakeholder meeting in Naivasha.
Kenya currently relies heavily on donor support for its immunisation needs, with more than 80% of the Ksh. 15 billion spent annually on vaccines coming from external funding.
But with the country’s middle-income status set to reduce financial aid from GAVI, local production is seen as a strategic necessity.
The Embakasi-based manufacturing facility is now assembling production components to meet global standards ahead of commercial rollout.
Dr. Githinji said the institute — formed in the wake of COVID-19 vaccine shortages — aims to guarantee both health security and the quality of locally produced vaccines.
He added that BioVax plans to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange to raise additional capital, with ambitions to tap into the African vaccine market, which the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates could be worth up to USD 5.6 billion by 2030.
Vision 2030 Board Chair Emmanuel Nzai welcomed the initiative as a boost to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and a safeguard for vulnerable populations.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic and current Mpox outbreak had exposed the risks of overreliance on imports, a gap BioVax seeks to fill.
According to the institute’s 2023–2027 strategic plan, the facility will focus on vaccines for outbreaks, children’s immunisation, and therapeutics — positioning Kenya as a regional hub for vaccine manufacturing.
