The initiative is part of the strategy that the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum has undertaken to recover national production of vaccines and venture into the manufacturing of medicines.
Messenger RNA is the molecule that gives instructions to the body’s cells to produce specific proteins. In the case of vaccine production, it uses our body and its own biological processes to potentially treat diseases and prevent infections.
Mexico was already producing vaccines through the parastatal Birmex (Mexican Biological and Reagent Laboratory), but manufacturing stopped completely in 2019.
The vaccine against tuberculosis was produced there, stopped in 2001, and the antigen that protects against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, which was stopped in 2019. Due to lack of capacity and resources, the manufacturing of vaccines against measles, poliomyelitis and influenza also ended.
Now Sheinbaum seeks to resume this production. This was also attempted in the last government, with an investment of 27 million pesos allocated to the packaging of doses against covid, but it did not advance further. Birmex went from being a vaccine manufacturer to trying, without success, to acquire and distribute medicines for the public health sector.
This has taken its toll in health crises, where the country has struggled to buy vaccines and there have been periods of shortages and drops in vaccination coverage.
