Egypt, Senegal, Kenya, South Africa, Tunisia and Nigeria – have emerged as the first African recipients of mRNA technology under the global mRNA technology transfer hub initiative.
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An mRNA vaccine is a type of vaccine that uses a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, French President Emmanuel Macron, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus and European Council President Charles Michel made a joint announcement at last week’s European Union-African Union summit in Brussels. African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, who has championed African vaccine manufacturing, attended the summit.
Under the initiative’s hub and spoke model, a hub was established in Cape Town, South Africa, made up of Afrigen Biologics, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Biovac, a South African vaccine producer, which is also the program’s first spoke.
Afrigen’s mandate is to establish mRNA vaccine production technology. SAMRC is providing the research, while Biovac is the first manufacturing spoke.
The hub will share technology and technical know-how related to the production and licensing of mRNA vaccines with local producers in the six newly announced “spokes.â€
The global mRNA technology transfer hub initiative’s partners are WHO, the Medicines Patent Pool, the Act-Accelerator/COVAX, the African Union, and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The WHO’s Tedros commented on the speed with which vaccines against the coronavirus had been developed. Despite this, more than 80% of Africa’s population is yet to receive a single dose. He said the technology transfer hub would provide a facility to train manufacturers in vaccine production as well as the obtaining the licenses to do so.
The African Development Bank has been supporting the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has committed to spending $3 billion over ten years to develop vaccine manufacturing and achieve the African Union’s goal that by 2040, 60% of the vaccines used on the continent are manufactured on the continent. ■