GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is setting up a technology transfer hub for producing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa, with Afrigen Biologics and Biovac to be involved, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
“Today I am delighted to announce that WHO is in discussions with a consortium of companies and institutions to establish a technology transfer hub in South Africa,” Tedros told a news conference.
“The consortium involves a company Afrigen Biologics & Vaccines, which will act as the hub both by manufacturing mRNA vaccines itself & by providing training to a manufacturer Biovac,” he said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Matthias Blamont in Paris; writing by Stephanie Nebehay)