Univercells, Batavia Biosciences on tap to help bring affordable measles and rubella shots to Africa
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant will deploy Batavia’s Hip-Vax intensified production process for GMP measles and rubella material and Univercells’ NevoLine™ technology platform to accelerate manufacturing and affordable access to essential and epidemic vaccines in Africa.”
Another vaccine manufacturing effort has kicked off in Africa, this time centered around access to low-cost measles and rubella shots.
For this project, Senegal’s Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) is teaming up with CDMO Batavia Biosciences and biologics manufacturing specialist Univercells, with funding help coming from the Gates Foundation.
Also Read: Bill Gates Recommends: Five Books to Enjoy During this Holiday Season
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant will deploy Batavia’s Hip-Vax intensified production process for GMP measles and rubella material and Univercells’ NevoLine™ technology platform to accelerate manufacturing and affordable access to essential and epidemic vaccines in Africa. IPD will produce the vaccine for essential, routine immunization campaigns in low- and middle-income countries and the outbreak and catch-up campaigns.
Dr. Amadou Alpha Sall, CEO of IPD, said: “By manufacturing affordable measles and rubella vaccines and diagnostics in Africa, the region will be one step closer to a diversified manufacturing landscape for epidemic preparedness and improving the supply chain for essential vaccines for routine immunization. This will help countries in the region build autonomy and reach every child with lifesaving vaccines.”
Also Read: COVIDvoice: Bill Gates Is the Business World’s Coronavirus Leader
Dr. Christopher Yallop, COO of Batavia Biosciences added: “We are privileged to be able to work with Institut Pasteur de Dakar and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance this innovative vaccine technology with a key manufacturing partner. Our HIP-Vax manufacturing process technology, developed on the NevoLine™ platform, is designed to deliver vaccines at high yield and very low cost, increasing affordability and availability.”
José Castillo, the co-founder of Univercells, commented: “We are honored to partner with Institut Pasteur de Dakar and Batavia Biosciences, and to participate in this historic initiative that will increase access to the measles and rubella vaccines on the African continent and across the globe. Supporting and nurturing biomanufacturing autonomy is at the heart of Univercells’ mission, and we are thrilled that our technology will help enable progress toward regional autonomy. Knowing that our breakthrough vaccine manufacturing platform NevoLine™, initially funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2016, will now help accelerate the manufacture of vaccines in Africa, is very exciting.”.
Also Read: Pfizer Takes the Lead in Coronavirus Race with 90% Effective Vaccine
Production will take place at a regional manufacturing hub in Dakar called MADIBA, which has been used to make vaccines against COVID-19 and other epidemic diseases, IPD explained in a release. The hub boasts the capacity to produce 300 million vaccine doses per year for Africa.
