THE possible establishment of a biobank alongside pharmaceutical and vaccine-manufacturing facilities is being advanced through plans to develop a Life Sciences Park in Guyana, Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony has said.
The minister made this known in a video message during which he said, “We also intend to develop a Life Sciences Park, and this programme came about with the President meeting with Prime Minister Mottley and two of them having a meeting with the President of the EU.”
According to Dr Anthony, those discussions resulted in a special programme through which the European Union will support both Barbados and Guyana in developing Life Sciences Parks.
He revealed that Guyana is close to formalising a partnership with a leading Life Sciences Park in Belgium, which will play a key role in shaping the local initiative.
“We are on the verge of signing an agreement with one of the top Life Sciences Parks in Belgium and once that is signed, the park in Belgium is going to work with us here in Guyana to develop our life science park here in Guyana,” Dr Anthony said.
In addition to this, he stated that a major aspect of the initiative will be the development of a biobank, aimed at advancing research into diseases affecting the local population, including cancer.
“We also want to ensure that we develop bio banking that is from different tissues. We’ll be able to bank them, where researchers then would be able to use the tissue to do more research on understanding different types of cancers and how they interact in different mediums,” Dr Anthony said.
He explained that the biobank would strengthen research capacity and expand scientific knowledge relevant to Guyana’s health challenges.
“So, we would be working on establishing a bio bank capable of doing these types of research and extending our knowledge in some forms of these cancers that have been affecting our local population,” he said.
Beyond research and discovery, the Life Sciences Park is also expected to support manufacturing, particularly in the pharmaceutical and vaccine sectors, through partnerships with international companies.
“We are also going to be working with various partners and companies to establish manufacturing in Guyana,” Dr Anthony said.
He disclosed that discussions are already underway with several partners interested in setting up pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in the country.
“We want to do more manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. And already, we’ve been talking to a number of partners that over the next couple of years, will be coming to Guyana to establish manufacturing plan for pharmaceuticals,” he stated.
In addition, talks are ongoing to establish local vaccine-manufacturing facilities.
“We have also been talking to a number of partners to set up plants here to do the manufacturing of vaccines,” Dr Anthony said.
According to the health minister, the combined initiatives would generate employment opportunities, while positioning Guyana as a centre for medical research and innovation.
“So once completed, what we’ll be doing is creating more jobs. What we’ll also be doing is creating an academic centre where we can conduct research in medicine and to do new discoveries that would enhance the types of medicines that people would be using in the future,” he said.
Further, he stated that over the next few years, citizens will see the government moving in this direction, facilitating collaborations with various global partners and academic institutions.
