Sura’s VaxThera Confirms 2023 Start-up for US$54 Milllion Vaccine Plant in Antioquia

Medellin-based multinational insurance and health-care giant Grupo Sura just confirmed this afternoon (September 23) that its VaxThera biotech division will build a US$54 million plant and laboratory here in Antioquia for production of up-to-100-million bottles/year of vaccines for the Latin American market.

“The location was defined after a detailed analysis by a group of experts and consultants that took into account the conditions necessary for the company’s operations. Construction is projected to begin in the first quarter of 2022, to start operations in 2023,” according to the company announcement.

First word of the proposed plan to build the 35,000-square-meters plant in the metro Rionegro, Antioquia area, came from Antioquia Acting Governor Luis Fernando Suarez last week. But confirmation only came today directly from VaxThera.

“Our plant for the production and packaging of vaccines in Colombia will be located in eastern Antioquia,” according to VaxThera’s official announcement.

The new plant and laboratory will generate 500 jobs here, dedicated to “research and development of vaccines for the prevention and treatment of emerging infectious diseases in the Latin American region,” according to VaxThera.

The plant’s output will follow strict standards as demanded by the World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Colombia’s Invima medical-standards regulator, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), according to the company.

While the plant will have capacity to produce around 100 million vials per year, VaxThera also “seeks to import and commercialize vaccines and other types of biologicals for Colombia and Latin America, and transfer the necessary technology to the country to produce and develop these types of products,” according to the company.

VaxThera aims to develop vaccines for treating coronavirus, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, influenza and Zika, the company added.