- Inauguration of the facilities of the mRNA Technology Center in Afrigen, South Africa.
- Partners meet in Cape Town to discuss the next phase of mRNA vaccine development and knowledge sharing.
More than 200 international participants working with the mRNA Technology Transfer Program met in Cape Town this week for their first face-to-face meeting. Accompanied by the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr. Joe Phaahla, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Ebrahim Patel of South Africa, together with with high-level officials from funding countries, this one-off meeting reviewed progress since the WHO and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) launched it in June 2021.
“I am delighted to be here in Cape Town with our partners to support a sustainable model for mRNA technology transfer to provide low- and middle-income countries equitable access to vaccines and other life-saving health products,” he said. the Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom. Ghebreyesus. “I am immensely proud of the achievement of everyone involved in this project; in less than two years we have shown that when we work collaboratively, we succeed together.”
Meeting participants include biomanufacturing partners from 15 countries in the Program, leading experts, industry, civil society representatives and funders. During the five-day meeting, participants will share progress and discuss critical enablers for the Program’s sustainability, such as intellectual property issues and regulatory issues, as well as the science of mRNA technologies and key applications relevant to the LMIC in other disease areas such as HIV and tuberculosis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that there is a great inequity in access to health products, especially vaccines. In March 2023, more than three years after the WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), 69.7% of the world’s population had received at least one dose of a vaccine. against COVID-19. In particular, this proportion still remains below 30% in low-income countries (LICs). This Program aims to contribute to equitable access to mRNA vaccines by increasing the distribution of sustainable manufacturing capacity in LMICs, enhancing regional and interregional collaborations, and developing and empowering a local workforce through personalized and inclusive training. and expert support. What is unique about the mRNA technology transfer model is the multilateral process that allows technologies to be shared with multiple recipients so that, through local and regional production, those in need can be quickly reached.
Dr Phaahla, South African Minister of Health, said: “What we see here today, is a moment in history, a Program that aims to empower LMICs through a global collaborative network. I am delighted to see the progress made in a relatively short time and I appreciate the support of so many different countries, countries like South Africa that have a strong and vibrant biomanufacturing capacity and are willing to work together, learn and share with each other. .”
Higher Education and Science Minister Blade Nzimande said: “Ours is the vision of the mRNA Technology Transfer Center beyond COVID-19. The capabilities we are building are intended to empower us to face other future pandemics whose vaccines could use the same platform of mRNA technology. It is a vision that has set its eyes on diseases that are prevalent in our environments, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV and AIDS”.
This occasion also marks an important milestone for the Program with the inauguration of the Afrigen mRNA Technology Center facility in Cape Town in the presence of Dr Tedros and Dr Matshidiso Moeti WHO Regional Director for Africa, Charles Gore Executive Director of MPP and the Hon’ble Ministers taking part in an inauguration ceremony in Afrigen.
Professor Petro Terblanche, CEO of Afrigen, said: “The entire Afrigen team is delighted to reach this important milestone with the completion of the mRNA technology platform. This platform is located within the end-to-end mRNA vaccine development and production facility where mRNA Hub Covid 19’s AfriVac 2121 vaccine candidate is currently undergoing scale-up. Over the past 18 months, Afrigen has undergone an incredible transformation with the support of a network of partners and mentors enabled by this Program. We have increased our capacity and ability to meet the highest quality standards in mRNA vaccine development, with the goal of building sustainable capacity in low- and middle-income countries to produce mRNA vaccines.”
Afrigen has successfully established a laboratory-scale manufacturing process for COVID-19 vaccines and is currently scaling that process to a level suitable for manufacturing batches of vaccines to be used in Phase I/II clinical trials according to GMP standards. . In a parallel process, Afrigen will continue to carry out training and technology transfer to network partners.
Funders play a crucial role in supporting the Program with total funding to date of US$117 million and France being the first to fund mRNA technology transfer work. Present at the meeting were representatives of the European Commission, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Canada, the African Union, South Africa and the ELMA Foundation.
Caroline Delany, Managing Director of GlobalAffairs Canada for Eastern and Southern Africa, said: “Canada reaffirms its continued support for the mRNA Technology Transfer Program and we are delighted to announce an additional contribution of C$15 million at today’s meeting. This brings Canada’s total contribution to the Program to Can$45 million. These funds support the operation of the Hub in South Africa, as well as network partners around the world. We firmly believe in the importance of developing capacities at the local and regional level”.
said Mr. Martin Seychell, Deputy Executive Director of the European Commission. “The EC has already contributed €40 million to the establishment of the mRNA Technology Transfer Center and has recently signed another grant with the EIB for €15.5 million to facilitate the expansion of vaccine manufacturing capacity. This is part of the overall investment under the EU Global Gateway strategy, in which more than €1 billion has been mobilized under the Team Europe initiative on the manufacturing of medical devices. It is now particularly important to also address potential demand and regulatory bottlenecks, to ensure not only the production of vaccines of the highest standard in all regions of the world, but also rapid and equitable access to those vaccines.”
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