New Covid-19 vaccine hub won’t deter SA’s IP waiver call

South Africa is still on its quest, along with other countries and bodies, to pressure companies to waiver Covid-19 vaccine intellectual property rights.

This is despite the announcement of that SA will host the world’s first mRNA Covid-19 vaccine technology transfer hub.

The hub comprises of a South African consortium comprising pharmaceutical companies and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). It is part of a larger project by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) partners, which will see similar hubs set up around the world.

This initiative does not negate South Africa’s call for companies making Covid-19 vaccines to waive their intellectual property rights, according to Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesperson Clayson Monyela.

“With the announcement that was made yesterday [Monday], it’s basically the same companies that have the intellectual property rights that are going to be manufacturing in SA. In other words, they are not surrendering their intellectual property,’ says Monyela.

“The call that we have been making is still valid. This doesn’t change the position or the call we have been making, because once you grant the waiver that we have been looking for, countries that are poor will also get the IP for the vaccines and therefore will be able to manufacture cheaply in their own back yards.”

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The announcement follows the recent visit to South Africa by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said France was committed to supporting efforts in Africa to scale up local manufacturing capacity of Covid-19 vaccines and other medical solutions.

But activists who welcomed the new technology transfer hub have suggested that such efforts don’t solve the ultimate problem of vaccine hoarding and have demanded more genuine efforts to support equal global access to vaccines.

Patrick Bond, professor at the University of the Western Cape’s school of government, says while any new local effort at medicines production is very welcome, including mRNA vaccine technology, the French government and corporations have shown themselves to be self-interested when operating in Africa.

“If Macron thinks this is a compromise stance given his recent reluctance – prior to his visit here – to support the proposed intellectual property waiver on generic production of vaccines and treatment, he doesn’t know how hard health activists will still lobby for a far-reaching solution to European vaccine apartheid,” says Bond.

Doctors Without Borders’ (MFS’s) Kate Stegeman, advocacy coordinator for MSF Access Campaign in South Africa, says its good news that the first mRNA technology transfer hub will be set up on the African continent, as it will boost the supply of vaccines to the rest of the continent.

“MSF welcomes the new South African deal but remain steadfast in pushing for companies to ditch the IP on Covid-19 vaccine jabs.”

The group has recently launched its call for BioNTech, the Germany-based pharmaceutical corporation producing a leading mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, to share its vaccine technology and knowledge with manufacturers in developing countries.

SA government under scrutiny

Bond suggests domestic confidence in the South African government’s Covid-19 response is significantly low and getting worse.

Marred by procurement bungles and corruption allegations, South Africa has a long way to go to regain the trust of South Africans.

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“With a health minister on leave due to corruption in the wake of his very weak negotiations with Big Pharma to get vaccines, disappointment in the state is growing.

“We recall that President [Cyril] Ramaphosa’s earlier promise to launch a Brazil-Russia-India-China-SA vaccine centre in Johannesburg – made at the Brics Summit in mid-2018 – came to nought. Even importing Russian, Chinese and Cuban vaccines here to address the fatal shortage appears too difficult for his sluggish officials.”

The companies involved

Together with the Africa CDC and various universities, the mRNA technology transfer hub consists of Biovac, the partially government-owned vaccine manufacturing and distribution company, and Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines,  a biotechnology company.

Biovac will act as developer, Afrigen as manufacturer and a consortium of universities as academic supporters providing mRNA know-how, with Africa CDC providing technical and regional support.

Sahpra webinar on the vaccine approval process

After weeks of mounting pressure for more options to be added to South Africa’s shallow pool of Covid-19 vaccines, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) is expected to hold an explanatory dialogue explaining the process of approving vaccines on Wednesday.

“The normal process for the evaluation of a vaccine, necessitates that all the required information regarding product safety, efficacy and quality be provided at the time of submission.

“In other words, all the clinical trial data for safety and efficacy from phase one to three should be provided together with manufacturing information of the product quality,” said Sahpra spokesperson Yuven Gounden.

In an effort to respond to the pandemic, Sahpra introduced another mechanism to facilitate review of Covid-19 applications: the rolling review process. This process facilitates the submission of data as it becomes available.

simnikiweh@citizen.co.za