South African biotechnology company Afrigen could soon rely on a small, automated Belgian lab to produce RNA for vaccines. This should make it easier for the Cape Town company, which developed Africa’s first mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, to scale up its production. King Philip and Queen Mathilde learned of this on Saturday when they visited the site.
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated Afrigen as a global knowledge center for mRNA vaccine technology in June 2022. The company not only develops and produces vaccines, but also transfers knowledge to more than fifteen production sites in low- and middle-income countries.
Last year, Afrigen succeeded in developing its own mRNA vaccine for Corona by dissecting the vaccine of the American pharmaceutical giant Moderna. Currently, the first African-made mRNA vaccine is in the preclinical testing stage.
At the end of 2022, Afrigen will partner with Walloon biotech company Univercells and competitor in the Flemish sector Etherna. Through its Quantoom subsidiary, Univercells has developed an almost 2 square meter robotic laboratory for RNA production, the first of which will arrive in Afrigen in the coming weeks. Etherna provides the technology that allows vaccines to be stored in regular refrigerators, rather than at temperatures from -20 to -80 degrees Celsius. This makes vaccinations more accessible in low- and middle-income countries.
Self-confident
“The small lab operates completely autonomously and produces small amounts of RNA,” explains Jose Castillo, co-founder of Univercells and CEO of Quantoom. “It makes no mistakes and provides constant, continuous RNA production day and night.” As a result, there is no need for expansion and huge investments associated with it. The small lab will eventually be able to make RNA for 50 million vaccine doses a year.
During their first day in Cape Town, the royal couple also visited the University of the Western Cape, which is collaborating with VUB and UGent on digital inclusion. Afterwards, Philippe and Mathilde attended separate round-table discussions with the students.
The King and Queen rounded off the day with a networking event for business leaders at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art. There they also visited an exhibition on the representation of black people in art over the past 100 years.
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