Democratization of Protein-Based Drug and Vaccine Supply Through Regional Small-Footprint Manufacturing

Rachel Chikwamba of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa together with Kerry Love of Sunflower Therapeutics in the U.S. will establish local manufacturing capacity in South Africa to increase access to protein-based biologic drugs including antibodies and vaccines, which are used for treating many different diseases. Access to biologics is unevenly distributed across the globe, and the conventional manufacturing practices are expensive and require substantial physical space and operational know-how. They have established low-cost, automated and modular manufacturing systems that can be easily adapted to different biologics and changing market needs. They will determine current local and regional needs and capabilities associated with biologics, identify five initial products for development, and produce business models for commercialization that can be used as a roadmap for the successful local deployment of their biologics manufacturing technology.