Afrigen, Univercells partner to develop African-owned Covid-19 vaccine

Afrigen Biologics has signed an agreement with the Univercells Group to develop the first African-owned Covid-19 vaccine. The partnership will focus on developing a new messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine leveraging intellectual property (IP) from both parties, as well as a new IP and boosting access to the shot. mRNA specialist eTheRNA will extend support to Afrigen and Univercells in the partnership. The firms will jointly work to address two key challenges, the lack of domestic cost-efficient manufacturing and the requirement for cold- or super-cold chains.