Imagine a world with vaccines for all the diseases that afflict people in the world's poor countries, not just for global threats like COVID but for all the diseases that afflict people in the world's poor countries. Even for the current epidemic of HIV.
Better yet, what if these new vaccines were made in the countries where they are most needed? The countries were forced to wait last in line for vaccine because they were shut out of vaccine production. If the next Pandemic hits these nations could be at the forefront of creating new vaccines.
That is the vision of a small startup in South Africa. The company is the linchpin of a global project launched by the World Health Organization.
This work looks like what it is. A row of small warehouse-like structures in Cape Town is a hive of activity.
Construction workers race to assemble metal rack for new computer server as the courtyard echoes with loud noises.
Jaco said the job feels personal. He was angry that people in his country had to wait months for the vaccine after wealthy countries got it.
The shortest end of the stick is always given to us.
The African continent makes just 1% of the vaccines it uses, according to him. It's good to know that we can move forward. He believes we can become independent. All of us have bought into the dream.
There is a pile of business cards on the desk of the Managing Director of the company.
Look at this!" She said to look at all of them.
All over the world, researchers from universities and firms from the United States and Korea want to work together to eradicate a disease.
She says she's weeded them out. I've already looked at them.
The idea is to create a vaccine that can change the world. The human body's immune system needs to identify what part of a virus or bacterium it needs to kill in order to kill the pathogen. When scientists insert a piece of the pathogen into a person, they tell their body to make many copies of it. An immune response is created by the immune system. The person's immune system will be prepared to fight the real germs if they ever come in contact with them.
The new technology has only been used against COVID. Once a company knows how to make them for one disease, they can quickly and cheaply modify them with mRNA for a completely different disease.
Moderna and Pfizer-bioNtech are the only companies that have succeeded in making a vaccine. They aren't sharing their knowledge.
That's where this World Health Organization-sponsored effort comes in: WHO and its partners have enlisted Afrigen to figure out how to make a vaccine, and then teach it to manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries.
The key to preventing a different disease has been hit on by every wannabe partner that has contacted Afrigen. The vaccine would be created with the help of Afrigen's expertise on how to deliver the mRNA into the body.
A vaccine against HIV and Tuberculosis will be worked on by Afrigen.
We are giving priority to unmet needs.
It's difficult to choose from all the promising partnerships.
Terblanche gasps. "All of these are believable!"
Three scientists from Afrigen are looking at a tube of liquid in a lab room.
Brandon Weber said to look on the side of the tube. There are small spots there. Are you able to see?
The team is trying to finish what is supposed to be the company's first vaccine against COVID, which will be a proof of concept for the entire project.
A prototype that works in mice was finished last May. The summer will see the start of clinical trials. It will take a lot of vaccine to make that happen.
A whole new system for production at mass scale is what the lead scientist for the team is talking about.
Each step is being tested by her team at the moment. She smiles with a game smile. We need to shoot the trouble.
They ran into this problem right off the bat, because the liquid into which they've dissolved the vaccine has strange particles in it.
The piece of equipment that is supposed to purify the solution needs to be removed.
Weber went to the computer to see if it was possible to buy a filter that could strain out the particles. There is one option that looks really good.
He thinks this may solve the problem. His face turned dark. The lead time for the product is long.
He could get it in the U.S. Here in South Africa? He shook his head and said "weeks." "Months and weeks"
The project's vaccine against COVID has been delayed by almost a year due to these issues.
She sighed a lot. There's access to equipment. There is access to the material. It's endless.
Patents are another issue. Moderna won't enforce its patents when it comes to COVID vaccines because some of the information was publicly known.
Will Moderna allow those patented elements to be used for the vaccine against other diseases? Terblanche doesn't give a big deal. She doesn't know which way Moderna will go.
Terblanche says that patent holders may have to contend with a lot of what he calls a "Battlefield's worth of patent holders".
The company is trying to develop its own versions of patented elements. The WHO-led project is supporting an effort by a public agency in Brazil called the Bio-Manguinhos Fiocruz Foundation to create a vaccine against COVID.
Terblanche says there are probably some patents out there that can help us. She says we may need to challenge some of the claims.
She added quickly. Then you go to court. She laughs. First we have coffee, then we go to court.
Terblanche doesn't have a lot of breathing room when it comes to its business model.
A non-profit research institute, an investment group started by health-care professionals, and a national industrial development corporation are some of the funders of the private company. Terblanche says that the shareholders are not interested in making billions.
To make sure the company is sustainable, she needs some money. The international funders who backed the project limits the amount of money that can be made from any vaccine sold in low- and middle-income countries. Terblanche is looking for partners to help develop vaccines for diseases in rich countries.
An alarm is going off on her computer. The calendar is on her screen.
She says that she's going to meet time.
There is a video conference with someone. She grabs a pile of papers and a paintbrush. She says it's her lipstick. There is a tomato in this picture.
She laughs a second time. She says that if you want to change the world, you have to look fresh.
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