On May 17, 2021, medical staff were preparing for the COVID-19 vaccination at a vaccination site in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Xinhua News Agency)
Xinhua News Agency, Cape Town, February 4th. South Africa's Everigan Biologics and Vaccine Company told local media on the 3rd that the company used the nucleic acid sequence of the new crown vaccine that Moderna has disclosed in the United States to develop the first mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) new crown vaccine in the African continent, and plans to conduct clinical trials before the end of this year.
About 99% of vaccines in Africa depend on imports. In June last year, the World Health Organization announced the establishment of a technology transfer center for mRNA COVID-19 vaccine production in South Africa with partners to help African countries produce COVID-19 vaccines and solve the inequality of vaccine distribution in wealthy and poor countries. Everigan joined the project.
, Everigan General Manager Peter Row Teblanch, said that Moderna did not provide any technology. They used Moderna's disclosed nucleic acid sequence to develop their own processes and produced their own mRNA vaccine.
Tebranger said Everigan has partnered with the University of Kingsoft in South Africa to mass-produce the vaccine at its factory in Cape Town. The company is also developing next-generation mRNA vaccines that do not require low-temperature storage, which is more suitable for high temperatures and Africa where basic sanitation is lacking.
Some media analysts believe that South Africa's COVID-19 vaccine production technology transfer center chose to use the Moderna vaccine nucleic acid sequence as the basis because there is a lot of public information related to this vaccine, and Moderna has promised not to enforce relevant patent rights during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
