A five-day visit by WHO head Tedros Ghebreyesus and health officials will include talks on the science of mRNA tech and its potential use to combat other disease
20 April 2023 - 09:52
byWendell Roelf
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially launched its mRNA vaccine technology hub in Cape Town, a facility established during the Covid-19 pandemic to help poorer countries struggling to access life-saving medication.
In 2021, the WHO picked SA biotech firm Afrigen Biologics for a pilot project to give poor and middle-income countries the know-how and licences to make Covid-19 vaccines, in what President Cyril Ramaphosa then called a historic step.
Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot — AfriVac 2121 — at lab scale and is now scaling up production.
The vaccine candidate, which must still be tested on humans, is the first to be made based on a widely used vaccine without the assistance and approval of the developer. It is also the first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale on the African continent.
“I am ... here in Cape Town with our partners to support a sustainable model for mRNA technology transfer to give low- and middle-income countries equitable access to vaccines and other life-saving health products,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Thursday.
The hub decided to pursue the vaccine on its own after global pharmaceutical firms, including Moderna and Pfizer, declined to provide the technical know-how to replicate their vaccines mainly over intellectual property concerns.
The visit by Tedros and senior health officials over five days will include discussions over the programme’s sustainability, the science of mRNA technologies and its potential use to combat other diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis that disproportionately affect poorer countries.
WHO said 69.7% of the global population had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of March 2023, but that figure was still below 30% in low-income countries.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
WHO launches mRNA vaccine hub in Cape Town
A five-day visit by WHO head Tedros Ghebreyesus and health officials will include talks on the science of mRNA tech and its potential use to combat other disease
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially launched its mRNA vaccine technology hub in Cape Town, a facility established during the Covid-19 pandemic to help poorer countries struggling to access life-saving medication.
In 2021, the WHO picked SA biotech firm Afrigen Biologics for a pilot project to give poor and middle-income countries the know-how and licences to make Covid-19 vaccines, in what President Cyril Ramaphosa then called a historic step.
Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot — AfriVac 2121 — at lab scale and is now scaling up production.
The vaccine candidate, which must still be tested on humans, is the first to be made based on a widely used vaccine without the assistance and approval of the developer. It is also the first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale on the African continent.
“I am ... here in Cape Town with our partners to support a sustainable model for mRNA technology transfer to give low- and middle-income countries equitable access to vaccines and other life-saving health products,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Thursday.
The hub decided to pursue the vaccine on its own after global pharmaceutical firms, including Moderna and Pfizer, declined to provide the technical know-how to replicate their vaccines mainly over intellectual property concerns.
The visit by Tedros and senior health officials over five days will include discussions over the programme’s sustainability, the science of mRNA technologies and its potential use to combat other diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis that disproportionately affect poorer countries.
WHO said 69.7% of the global population had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as of March 2023, but that figure was still below 30% in low-income countries.
Reuters
Aspen executive decries lack of support for locally made drugs
Ghana becomes first country to approve new malaria vaccine
Is a bigger cholera outbreak coming for Gauteng’s townships?
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
State snubs SA vaccine maker Biovac with switch to imports
Vaccine contract winner Cipla says it saved health department R2.4bn
Aspen calls for Africa to pool procurement for pharmaceuticals
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.