The president of the Bluepharma Group has no doubt about Portugal’s ability to produce the vaccine against Covid-19 and that there are Portuguese companies interested in embracing this cause. Despite believing in Portugal's capacity, he stresses that producing vaccines against Covid-19 is not a fast process and requires some reconversion and licensing.
"Portugal has a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical industry. We have very qualified professionals with extensive knowledge in the pharmaceutical industry. In the area of vaccines, there are some companies working in the area of injectables, but this requires some reconversion to produce vaccines against Covid-19. It is not a fast process because it requires time, design, planning, licensing, authorizations and then manufacture," highlights the president of the Bluepharma Group, Paulo Barradas Rebelo.
Despite the complexity, the pharmaceutical leader is sure that "There will be companies in Portugal willing and interested in embracing this public health project," says the president of the company that celebrates 20 years of existence this year.
The Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias, has already said that the Government wants Portugal on the map of vaccine production and has even contacted 41 companies and laboratories from 11 countries to negotiate the country's entry into the production of viral vaccines, he said in an interview with Jornal Económico (paid access).
The Bluepharma leader explains that "they are not prepared for vaccine production" in a short period of time, as the group specializes in solid oral formulas, despite working for five years on complex, injectable formulas. "We have an investment project for the next ten years that included a complex injectable plant that will be built over a four-year horizon. At that time it will be available to help in this noble mission of making vaccines available to the population".
This investment by the complex injecting plant is part of a strategic plan of 200 million euro for the next 10 years. This investment plan calls for the construction of Bluepharma Park, which will give rise to the largest domestic technological park of the pharmaceutical cluster, totaling 6.5 hectares in area, with 35 thousand square meters of covered area and an investment in excess of 150 million euro.
The leader of Bluepharma also warns that there is no infrastructure to produce 7 billion vaccines.
The Covid-19 vaccine has emerged as a sign of hope in the world, but controversial contracts with pharmaceutical companies and late deliveries are causing major constraints.
For the president of the Bluepharma Group this delay is "normal" because "there is not enough infrastructure to produce vaccines in real time for the population".