Afrigen

Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines
Company type
Private
IndustryBiotech
Founded2014; 12 years ago (2014)[1]
Headquarters
Montague Gardens, Cape Town
,
South Africa[1]
Key people
Mehmet Levent Selamoglu (Chairperson)
Petro Terblanche (CEO)[1]
ProductsVaccines
OwnerAvacare South Africa
The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa[1]
Websiteafrigen.co.za

Afrigen (officially Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines) is a South African biotech company, based in Cape Town.[2]

History

Afrigen was founded in 2014, as a partnership between the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), which was a non-government organization registered in the USA, and later transformed to the Access to Advanced Health Initiative (AAHI), and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC).[1]

In November 2017, Avacare Health acquired the IDRI stake in Afrigen.[1]

In February 2022, Afrigen was the world's first company to manufacture an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine using a publicly available sequence from a different manufacturer. The vaccine was made using Moderna's data.[3]

Major pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna all declined the WHO's request to share their technology to expand vaccine access. As a result, the WHO chose a consortium, including Afrigen, for a pilot project to give poor and middle-income countries the knowledge to make COVID vaccines themselves. Afrigen also agreed to help train companies in Argentina and Brazil.[3]

As of 2023, Afrigen had developed a COVID-19 vaccine, and was working on mRNA vaccines for tuberculosis and HIV.[4][5][2]

In January 2025, it was announced that Afrigen is pioneering research which aims to develop the first mRNA-based vaccine against Rift Valley fever, a mosquito-borne disease affecting countries across Africa and the Middle East. This research is backed by a R116 million grant from the Norway-based foundation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).[6]

Operations

Afrigen operates from 6 customized warehouses that house research and product development labs, GMP vaccine manufacturing, GMP active ingredient production for health and wellness products, quality control labs, product stability testing, a compounding pharmacy, as well as warehousing for raw materials and products.[1]

Funding

Afrigen's funding comes from numerous organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "About Us". Afrigen. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b Aizenman, Nurith (28 December 2022). "How a scrappy African startup could forever change the world of vaccines". NPR. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b Wendell Roelf (4 February 2022). "In world first, South Africa's Afrigen makes mRNA COVID vaccine using Moderna data". Reuters. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  4. ^ Dutton, Jack (26 October 2022). "First African-made mRNA vaccine, a test platform for the future". Nature Africa. doi:10.1038/d44148-022-00151-3.
  5. ^ Barry-Jester, Anna Maria (4 October 2023). "How a Big Pharma Company Stalled a Potentially Lifesaving Vaccine in Pursuit of Bigger Profits". ProPublica. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  6. ^ CEPI (20 January 2025). "South Africa's Afrigen to develop human mRNA Rift Valley fever vaccine". CEPI. Retrieved 9 May 2025.


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