Patrick Soon-Shiong, a SA-American transplant surgeon, billionaire businessman, bioscientist, and media mogul, has offered R3bn to catalyse vaccine development capacity in the country and Africa, including development of second-generation Covid-19 vaccines.
This is according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation, and the SA mission to the UN in Geneva.
The diplomatic service said Soon-Shiong's corporation and philanthropic foundation “would commit an initial R3bn to SA to transfer the latest technology for producing vaccines and biological therapies”.
In March, Cape Town-based vaccine manufacturer Biovac announced it had formed a partnership with Soon-Shiong's California-based cell and immunotherapy product manufacturer ImmunityBio to manufacture the US firm's candidate Covid-19 vaccine.
The vaccine product is being tested in the form of a tablet which, according to Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana, will be a game changer as it will not have to be stored at the low temperatures of the injectable vaccines.
The ImmunityBio vaccine should be ready by early 2022.
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