IAVI, Minapharm, and ProBioGen announce strategic partnership to advance end-to-end development and manufacturing of vaccines and biologics in Africa
 

(CAIRO) - IAVI, a nonprofit scientific research organization, based in New York, U.S.; Minapharm, the largest biosimilars manufacturer in Africa, based in Cairo, Egypt; and ProBioGen, a recognized leader in contract development and manufacturing, and a trusted technology provider based in Berlin, Germany have announced a strategic partnership to advance the end-to-end development and manufacturing of priority vaccines and biologics in Africa.

With only one percent of the vaccines serving the African market produced on the continent, there is a pressing need to strengthen innovation and expand local manufacturing capacities to meet the region's health challenges. Through a novel public-private partnership, these three organizations will collaborate to strengthen the innovation ecosystem on the continent and facilitate sustainable access to urgently needed products.

Combining Minapharm's 25-year proven track record in manufacturing and commercializing high-quality, innovative yet affordable biologics on the African continent, ProBioGen's vaccine vector, avian cell line, and manufacturing technologies, and IAVI's end-to-end product development expertise, the partners will leverage their complementary strengths to accelerate the development of ProBioGen's Modified Vaccinia Ankara as a vaccine against Mpox. The vaccine is being optimized for manufacturing productivity, immunogenicity, and ease of delivery, to overcome cost, supply, and implementation barriers that have severely restricted access in regions most impacted by recent Mpox outbreaks.

Building on Minapharm's established monoclonal antibody (mAb) production capabilities and IAVI's history of partnership to support local manufacturing, the three organizations will join forces to further expand the existing regional manufacturing hub for affordable mAbs. The partnership relies on IAVI's strong collaboration with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Wellcome Trust, which is providing support through grant 226431/Z/22/Z; and other partners. This initiative will be enabled through the technology transfer of IAVI's portfolio of antibody-based products for HIV prevention, combined with joint capacity-strengthening, market-shaping efforts, and future collaborations to expand access to a broader range of monoclonal and multispecific antibodies. By expanding regionally driven innovation and supply for priority products, this partnership, which has been convened with support by the kENUP Africa Foundation, will strengthen health security, bolster production capacity, and enable rapid response capabilities to address leading infectious diseases at their source.

"We are thrilled to launch this new partnership with Minapharm and ProBioGen, which represents a potentially transformative opportunity to accelerate the development of urgently needed innovations to address diseases with devastating and disproportionate impact in Africa," said Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., IAVI's President and CEO. "This pioneering collaboration will ensure access to cutting-edge innovations like antibodies for HIV prevention and innovative vaccine strategies for emerging infectious diseases such as Mpox – by expanding the capacity to research, develop, and produce those products in the region where they are most needed."

"By combining our decades of expertise in end-to-end biomanufacturing on the continent, with ProBioGen's bioprocessing excellence, and IAVI's strong global product development leadership, we are creating an intercontinental scientific platform to scale innovation and ensure equitable access to innovative therapies and vaccines for Africa," said Dr. Shaheer Bardissi, Ph.D., Co-CEO, Minapharm Pharmaceuticals.

"It has always been our vision to enable access to complex biologics in the MEA region while strengthening regional and local manufacturing capabilities. We are proud to contribute our expertise as well as our vaccine and antibody manufacturing technologies to this alliance and to support exactly where it matters most," said Dr. Volker Sandig, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer at ProBioGen.

"Africa continues to face significant challenges in accessing monoclonal antibodies due to the lack of an affordable, equitable, and sustainable supply. This partnership represents an important step forward in expanding access to mAbs and vaccines for the African continent. Africa CDC stands ready to support Member States in accessing these products through the African Pooled Procurement Mechanism (APPM)," said H.E. Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
                                                                   

                        
                

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