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CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African vaccine maker Biovac Institute, in partnership with major pharmaceutical firms, is on track to boost annual capacity sevenfold to 35 million doses by 2013, its deputy chief executive said.

Morena Makhoana said on Monday the bulk of the doses, 25 million, will be destined for Africa, where a lack of manufacturing capacity meant the world's poorest continent was dependant on imported vaccines to fight "neglected" killer diseases such as TB and cholera.

"We are in discussions with Sanofi-Pasteur, a unit of Sanofi-Aventis, with GlaxoSmithKline and with Wyeth, who are now called Pfizer, and all three of them have shown a willingness to enter into a technology transfer with one, or a few, of their vaccines already in the South African market," Makhoana told Reuters in an interview.

GlaxoSmithKline indicated earlier this month it would give away access to a stock of 13,500 potential malaria treatments for others to test and develop further.

Makhoana said the proposed technology transfers would enable Biovac, a public-private partnership established between the South African government and the Biovac Consortium in 2003, to reposition itself from a company involved in the late stages of production to one that is involved in the whole vaccine development cycle.

The company estimates it would cost some 130 million rand to fund its expansion programme over the next three years, with government taking up a 12.5 equity stake in two months time. It is also looking at loans from South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation and international partners.

Makhoana said the increased capacity would mean Biovac could respond to pandemics, such as the H1N1 flu virus which has killed nearly 14,000 worldwide, in the future.

Biovac is the only human vaccine manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa, with one smaller plant found in Senegal and another facility in Egypt which caters solely for that domestic market, said Makhoana.