Govt to set up Vaccine Fund

Allows 35% dollar retention for exporters; long-term buy-back contracts planned

ISLAMABAD:

The government has decided to set up a National Vaccine Fund as a dedicated, professionally managed investment vehicle anchored by the state to enable local vaccine production.

The fund will be established under a new vaccine policy.

Under this policy, approved vaccine manufacturers may be allowed to retain up to 35% of their export proceeds in dollars to manage expenses in export markets.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan chaired a high-level meeting on local vaccine manufacturing on Wednesday, marking a major step towards health security and industrial self-reliance in Pakistan. The meeting was co-chaired by Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Mustafa Kamal.

During the meeting, the SAPM said the new vaccine policy was ready to promote local vaccine production. Sources told The Express Tribune that the government would launch long-term contracts and buy-back contracts as part of the immediate actions under the policy.

Under the policy, the government of Pakistan will establish a National Vaccine Fund as a dedicated, professionally managed investment vehicle anchored by the State but operated on commercial principles.

The fund will provide patient, risk-sharing capital through equity, quasi-equity and milestone-based instruments, targeting vaccine scale-up, clinical development, regulatory readiness and shared Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) infrastructure.

Fund investments will be tightly aligned with national immunisation priorities and conditional government offtake commitments, ensuring that capital, procurement and regulation move in lockstep.

The fund will serve as a key financing instrument to ensure adequate capital availability in the market. It will be capitalised through a combination of federal contributions, development finance institutions and co-investment from private and strategic partners.

It may be established as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for investment or as a Section 42 company. The fund is expected to convert procurement guarantees into bankable projects, accelerate progress towards World Health Organisation (WHO) regulatory maturity and enable Pakistan to move from episodic vaccine imports to a sustainable, export-capable domestic manufacturing ecosystem.

The establishment of the fund is considered critical, as vaccine manufacturing requires large upfront capital, long development timelines and sustained regulatory and clinical investment well before the first commercial dose is sold. Similar instruments have been used as complementary support mechanisms for government buy-back and vaccine development programmes in countries such as Brazil, South Korea and Indonesia.

The government will expedite regulatory approvals for vaccines manufactured under the policy and ensure suitable availability of land and utilities by classifying vaccines as a greenfield investment for power tariff purposes.