The Brazilian government launched the bidding process for the construction in Rio de Janeiro of a compound that will demand a 630-million dollar investment, and whose construction is set to begin in the second half of 2021.

Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello stressed that Brazil - the country worst-hit by the pandemic in the region - will have "the largest industrial center in Latin America" to produce vaccines against coronavirus and other viruses, as reported by the Sputnik news agency.

The Health Biotechnology Industrial Complex will be 580,000 square meters and is to be located in Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. It will be linked to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the largest medical research center in Latin America, which depends on the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

The center is estimated to be able to produce 120 million vaccines and biopharmaceuticals products per year, increasing Fiocruz's current production level fourfold. This is the public laboratory that got a license to produce in Brazil 100 million doses of the Astra-Zeneca Oxford vaccine.