The construction works of the New Final Processing Center (NCPFI) of Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos (Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz) have not started yet, but the construction plan is at a fast pace. According to the Communications Department of the unit, the conceptual design and basic design phases of NCPFI require a lot of team work, and the team will be enlarged to satisfy the increasing demand.

The conceptual design phase was completed in April, and then, the basic design phase was initiated. This does not stop the team from making adjustments to the conceptual design. This phase is foreseen to be completed in October, when the executive design will be in the spotlight. The construction works will probably start in the second semester of this year. Earthworks will be made first in the 570,000-square meter land , located in Santa Cruz, West Rio de Janeiro.

Until the start of the construction works, a lot of work will be done, according to Coordinator Maurício Zuma, also Fiotec CEO. During an interview to the Communications Department of Bio-Manguinhos, he said the project is complex and many different actions are taken simultaneously. The team is in contact with the city and state governments, public service concession companies and suppliers.

Still according to Zuma, the companies responsible for the project – IPS, a North-American company, and SPL, a Brazilian company – want answers that need to be given on time so that they do not get behind schedule. In the next weeks, there will be meetings with both companies for discussions and definition of new strategies. The number of documents, diagrams, and drawings to be analyzed tend to increase exponentially soon.

NCPFI

NCPFI will be a modern biotechnology center in the industrial zone of Santa Cruz, West Rio de Janeiro. The location was selected after prospections in different cities in the States of Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and Minas Gerais. The undertaking will allow Brazil to significantly increase the supply of strategic products to the public health system, such as vaccines and biodrugs. In the new facility, 600 million doses of vaccine will be produced per year.

*Information provided by the Communications Department of Bio-Manguinhos and CCS/Fiocruz.