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Mpox: Africa’s response is obstructed by manufacturer’s failure to share vaccine technology and unfair pricing, says campaign group

BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2174 (Published 03 October 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q2174
  1. Gilbert Nakweya
  1. Nairobi

Access to urgently needed mpox vaccines in Africa is being hampered by the refusal of leading vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to share its technology and disclose its prices, a consumer rights group has claimed.

Public Citizen says that the Denmark headquartered company “has done far too little to enable access to its vaccine outside of wealthy countries” despite getting public funding.1

The modified vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) vaccine is manufactured and supplied by Bavarian Nordic as Jynneos, Imvamune, or Imvanex to prevent mpox and smallpox. Shortly after the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern on 14 August, Bavarian Nordic and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced a partnership to ensure equitable access to the vaccine. Bavarian Nordic promised to increase manufacturing and supply to Africa, as well as enhancing the “manufacturing …

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