Three years after the World Health Organization (WHO) launched Africa’s first mRNA vaccine technology transfer programme, the effort is beginning to pay off. The project was born during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most vaccines were snapped up by wealthy countries, leaving low and middle-income nations scrambling for access.

Established by the WHO and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in 2021, the programme is on its way to transforming the vaccine and therapeutic landscape in Africa. 

Through the hub at the Cape Town-based biotechnology company, Afrigen Biologics, it has successfully transferred foundational mRNA technology to 15 partner organisations.

African countries currently import 90% of the medicines and 99% of the vaccines they use. The technology transfer is a building block towards enabling developing countries to produce their own medicine for pandemics as well as routine public health needs. 

This progress was marked at an event hosted on the sidelines of the G20 Health Working Group in Johannesburg last week. The first partner to receive this technology is Biovac, a bio-pharmaceutical company also based in Cape Town. 

“As the first tech transfer partner we have certainly validated what Afrigen has done. We have also demonstrated scientifically that the work that they have done is transferrable and it can be upscaled,” says Biovac CEO Dr Morena Makhoana. “This programme has been a catalyst because we’ve been able to raise external funding for new R&D (research and development) labs, part of which will be dedicated to mRNA technology.” 

So why mRNA? The significance of mRNA technology is its versatility. It allows scientists to rapidly develop vaccines for a wide range of diseases – from COVID-19 to influenza. But its potential doesn’t stop there. Researchers are exploring mRNA-based vaccines for HIV and TB, two diseases that continue to devastate communities in South Africa. The technology also holds promise for the development of a wide range of treatments. 

“But technology transfer is not the end. For us, it’s a means to an end. Without developing a pipeline of products that can be transferred in a sustainable system and received by 15 partners in low- and middle-income countries and translated into products and make a difference in public health we will not meet the objectives of this programme,” says Professor Petro Terblanche, Afrigen CEO. 

Calls for sustainable development

Dr Michelle Mulder, CEO of the South African Medical Research Council highlights the importance of R&D in the technology transfer programme. 

“We have to continue to improve the mRNA candidate. We have to improve the process because we need more effective, more cost-effective and more stable vaccines. So there are always ways we can improve, and that can only be done with R&D.” 

She believes that mRNA technology provides an opportunity to explore the development of vaccines and treatments for some of the most prevalent diseases.

“That’s what we’re doing through this mRNA R&D component, particularly focussing on HIV and TB,” she says. 

Mulder also underscores the importance of developing a pipeline of new vaccines to ensure that manufacturing facilities remain operational even when they aren’t making medicine in response to a pandemic or disease outbreak.

Keeping the momentum going 

“This is a unique opportunity, driven by the pandemic. The foundations are in place – but without sustained political will, the promise of equitable mRNA access could slip through our fingers,” says Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP.

“What we need now is the courage to build on our investment to date, to align, and to realise the full value and impact of what we started.” – Health-e News