Lifera, a biopharmaceutical company in Saudi Arabia together with French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company Sanofi, and Arabio have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which aims to strengthen local manufacturing of vaccines in Saudi Arabia.

Under the terms of the MoU, Lifera, Sanofi and Arabio will explore opportunities for collaboration to help advance Saudi Arabia's vaccines localisation strategy through a range of proposed initiatives that include Lifera being a contract manufacturer to Sanofi, through state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and capabilities, as well as leveraging Arabio and Tamer Group's, local and regional distribution strength in vaccines and other key pharmaceutical products.

The MoU reflects Lifera's strategic mission to increase national resilience and grow the biopharma sector by enabling technology transfer, the creation of a skilled biopharmaceutical workforce and advancing Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

Tamer Group, the main shareholder in Arabio, is an integrated healthcare and wellness Group in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region offering a portfolio of products and services that contribute to personal wellness and public health.

Sanofi will share its renowned biotechnological expertise and know-how to initially manufacture seven vaccines which are part of the mandatory immunisation schedule to increase their accessibility to the local community and to potentially target the regional export market.