Ghana is planning to create anti-snake venom to save the lives of individuals bitten by snakes, which can occasionally result in death owing to a lack of life-saving serum.
This was revealed during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between a Ghanaian firm, Atlantic Lifesciences, and an Indian company, Vins Bioproducts Limited, for the start of fill and finish production of anti-snake venom in Ghana.
The anti-snake venom will be able to neutralize snake bites from over 19 different species. It is part of the government’s plan to make Ghana the African sub-region’s vaccine manufacturing hub.
Delese Mimi Darko, CEO of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), stated that the FDA has approved the development of anti-snake venom.
Dhananjay Tripathi, CEO of Atlantic Lifesciences, stated during the occasion in Accra that Ghana will be the first country in West Africa to produce and package anti-snake venom for local use and export.
Siddarth Daga, Executive Director of Vins Bioproducts Limited, stated his delight at working with Atlantic Lifesciences to create anti-snake venom in Ghana.
“Anti-venoms are critical vaccine commodities which are often out of stock in Ghana and other regions, leading to unavoidable deaths. There are several initiatives globally and nationally underway to increase access to anti-venoms, both here and in the rest of the world. This MoU will mark the beginning of several such agreements between local manufacturers and giant pharmaceutical industries to help support manufacturers towards self-sustainability and supply in Ghana and to export to many countries. Everything we test in our laboratory is worldwide,” She stated.
Vins Bioproducts Limited is a renowned vaccine manufacturer.
