Govt plans to relocate country's first vaccine plant from Gopalganj to Munshiganj

Infographic: TBS

Highlights:

• The government plans to relocate the vaccine plant from Gopalganj to Munshiganj for better access to Dhaka and scientific institutions.
• EDCL has requested 40 acres of land at BSCIC Chemical Industrial Park in Munshiganj
• The plant will produce 14 vaccines and multiple therapeutics and diagnostics during its 2024–2030 implementation period.
• Relocation is driven by the need for better facilities, foreign expert access, and proximity to skilled workforce

The government plans to relocate the country's first vaccine plant from Gopalganj to BSCIC Chemical Industrial Plant in Munshiganj's Sirajdikhan, citing its closer proximity to Dhaka as a strategic advantage for collaboration with scientific and academic institutions.

Essential Drugs Company Ltd (EDCL) has already sent a formal request for 40 acres of land from BSCIC to establish the plant, according to EDCL officials.

The country's only vaccine plant project, Essential Biotech and Research Centre, was initiated in 2020 in Gopalganj. Last year, 6.85 acres of land were acquired next to EDCL's third manufacturing facility in the district.

The project aims to develop local vaccine production capacity at an estimated cost of Tk3,115 crore.

However, following the fall of the Awami League government during the mass uprising in July-August last year, the interim administration has moved away from the plan to set up the plant in Gopalganj.

Mohammad Samad Mridha, managing director of EDCL, said the vaccine plant will require regular visits and extended stays by foreign scientists and technical experts – sometimes for up to six months – for training and supervision.

"To ensure their security and provide standard accommodation and food, they need to stay in five-star facilities, which are not available in Gopalganj," he said.

"Also, daily travel from Dhaka to Gopalganj is not feasible for these experts to conduct training for doctors and healthcare workers. That's why the plant is being relocated to Munshiganj, closer to the capital."

According to EDCL sources, the company had earlier decided – under former health minister Zahed Malek – to shift its Tejgaon factory to Manikganj in order to expand the production of essential and life-saving medicines.

However, the government has backtracked on that plan due to irregularities and corruption in land acquisition.

Now, both the vaccine and drug plants are planned to be set up on 40 acres of land in Munshiganj. EDCL has requested the allocation of the land from the 310-acre Chemical Industrial Park in the district.

EDCL sources say Tk28.67 crore has already been spent on land acquisition in Gopalganj for establishing the vaccine plant.

Professor Dr Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser on health affairs told TBS that the land acquired in Gopalganj will remain under EDCL's existing plant there.

''Gopalganj is geographically isolated for such high-level scientific engagement. Everyone knows why Gopalganj was initially selected. But practically, the skilled workforce needed for vaccine research is based in and around Dhaka," he said.

The plant is expected to produce 14 types of vaccines – including HPV (human papillomavirus), Covid-19, cholera, influenza, IPV (inactivated polio vaccine), and dengue – during its implementation period from January 2024 to December 2030.

Alongside vaccines, the plant will also produce a range of therapeutics, including Erythropoietin (EPO) in 2,000, 3,000, and 5,000 IU doses, Interferon (4.5 MIU), long-acting Pegylated Interferon, and Filgrastim/G-CSF injections. Diagnostic products such as antigen and PCR test kits, as well as human and veterinary rapid test kits and ELISA kits for veterinary use, will also be manufactured.

The Development Project Proposal has already been approved, and an amendment will be submitted once a new location is finalised. Minor design and management changes will also be made during the relocation process. Whatever vaccines were initially planned for production will still be produced, Dr Sayedur Rahman said.

"If we can adopt a One Health approach – covering both human and animal vaccines – it would serve not just Bangladesh but the broader region," he said.

"This vaccine plant is part of our pandemic preparedness," he added. "The plant has been approved under EDCL's name. Once both the vaccine and drug plants are operational, EDCL's production capacity will increase two to three times," he further said.