April the 6th, 2023 – The revitalisation of the Croatian Immunology Institute holds promise not only for this country, but for international placement on many markets.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/VL/Romana Kovacic Barisic writes, after several public procurement procedures failed to bear fruit, at the last one, the most favourable contractor was selected for the construction of the snake antidote factory. This is otherwise one the first of three new ones of the revitalised Croatian Immunology Institute.
In the business zone in Rugvica, the Association of Bidders of Croatian Contractors should start construction after signing an agreement with the government and obtaining a building permit. This is expected to be in October this year. Construction should then last about a year and a half, meaning that the facility should be completed in two years.
The old Croatian immunology institute lost its license way back in 1998
Production at the Croatian Immunology Institute will thus revived after almost 30 years of neglect of the once world-renowned manufacturer of vaccines against measles, rubella and so on. It also boasted snake antidote that was praised and exported throughout Europe. It lost its license from the World Health Organisation for the export of vaccines back in 1998, and in 2013, HALMED revoked an additional license for the production of blood derivatives and bacterial vaccines.
In addition to the factory for the production of snake bite antidote, factories for the processing of blood plasma and the production of medicines from it, as well as the production of viral vaccines according to the existing (MRP) and mRNA technology, will be created in the business zone in Rugvica. The administration building of the Croatian Immunology Institute and all of its supporting infrastructure will also be constructed.
Factories for the fractionation of plasma from human blood and for the production of viral vaccines should be built in the period from 2025 to 2028. The state will decide on the current location, an attractive plot of land in Rockefellerova, after the final relocation of the Croatian Immunology Institute in 3-4 years.
the numbers
The total estimated amount for the construction of all production plants is around 90 million euros, excluding VAT. Of this, 4.8 million euros have been set aside for the snake bite antidote factory, 3 million euros for the administrative building, 30 million euros for the plasma plant and the production of medicines, and 48 million euros for the vaccine factory. About 2.4 million euros have also been earmarked for the construction of new housing for laboratory and breeding animals, as well as for a biological laboratory.
a new degree of efficiency for the new Croatian immunology institute
“For the construction of the module for the production of antitoxin against snake bite venom, funds from the Institute of Immunology have been secured. For the second phase, the construction and equipping of the module for the production of blood derivatives, the majority of the funding has been provided using the allocated funds of the Coherence and Cohesion Operational Programme,” said Vedran Čardžić.
Health Minister Vili Beroš pointed out that the revitalisation of the Croatian Immunology Institute achieves an even greater degree of sufficiency in the production of medicines and preparations for the needs of Croatian healthcare. It will also greatly reduce the country’s dependence on foreign suppliers, and the re-production of vaccines against infectious diseases opens up the possibility of placing them on the global market.
