As per the latest reports, South African scientists aided by the World Health Organization (WHO) replicated the Moderna vaccine after the US drug makers refused to share their mRNA vaccine knowledge.
Researchers at a South African biotechnology firm stated that they have finished the process of reproducing Moderna’s mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 without the involvement of Moderna.
Vaccine Developed by Afrigen Biologics may help boost vaccination rates across Africa
According to the BBC, the Afrigen Biologics developed vaccine may help boost vaccination rates across Africa, which has the lowest uptake of Covid shots in the world.
ALSO READ: Moderna Vax May Lead to Fewer Breakthrough Covid Infections Than Pfizer
The clinical trials are planned to begin in November as said by the Cape Town Base Company.
‘No intent’ to infringe on patents
According to the report, Moderna previously stated that it has no intention to infringe patents on its vaccine, allowing scientists in Cape Town to create their own version of it.
“We used the sequence, that is the same as the Moderna vaccine 1273,” said Petro Terblanche, director of Afrigen Biologics.
“This is part of a global initiative to build capacity and capability in low and middle-income countries so that they can become self-sufficient,” Terblanche explained, adding that they were starting small but had big plans to scale up quickly.
It is also worth noticing that their mRNA vaccine can be stored at warmer temperatures, making it easier to store in low- and middle-income countries. The original vaccine necessitates expensive -250C to -150C refrigeration.
ALSO READ: Vaccine Giants Pfizer, Moderna Less Effective Against Omicron; Study
Large-scale production, on the other hand, could take several years. However, it may eliminate the need to rely on wealthy countries for vaccines, especially since the technology has recently elicited potent immunity against infectious disease targets in animal models of influenza virus, rabies virus, Zika virus and others.
The WHO assisted in the establishment of Africa’s first Covid mRNA vaccine technology-transfer hub in South Africa in June of last year, with participants including Afrigen, the Biovac Institute, and local universities. The goal was to increase vaccine production in order to address the massive shortages in the developing world.
The WHO had approached Moderna, Pfizer, and BioNTech for assistance in teaching researchers in low- and middle-income countries how to make Covid-19 vaccines. However, the companies did not respond.
Moderna’s shot was chosen for replication because more information about its development was publicly available than Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine.
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