R900m injection for UCT spin-off developing rapid diagnostic COVID-19 test kits
Cape Bio Pharms, a biotech company with roots in the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Biopharming Research Unit, has received a multimillion-rand capital injection to fast-track the production of affordable plant-based rapid diagnostic COVID-19 test kits.
The R900 million grant comes courtesy of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a global non-profit organization “accelerating the development, evaluation, and delivery of high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases.”
The funding will allow for the construction of a new facility, Cape Biologix Technologies, a subsidiary of Cape Bio Pharms, which will be built in Mauritius.
The facility will scale up innovative plant-based manufacturing and commercialize the successful development of plant-based recombinant proteins.
‘Commitment to the poor’
UCTʼs vice-chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, said that the Western world is not in the habit of looking to Africa for solutions to global problems. But the investment by the EIB and FIND will change that.
“I am very proud to see my country and my continent recognized in this way by the EIB, which is supporting the ability of African-based research, technology, and investment to address the critical health needs we all share.”
“This is also a commitment to the poor around the world who will benefit from this innovation,” he added.
The team of scientists at Cape Bio Pharms has been using Nicotiana benthamiana plants, a close relative of tobacco, as a bioreactor to produce COVID-19 proteins and antibodies.
The scientists are working towards developing components of a serology test for the disease, which detects antibodies in a patient’s blood, and can be used to determine if they have been exposed to or previously infected with the virus.
The plan is distribute the test kit throughout sub-Saharan Africa to help fight the pandemic in developing nations.
The team has been using Nicotiana benthamiana in their research for over 20 years because of the plant’s strength and ability to grow quickly.
Essentially, the plant is harnessed as a small factory to produce proteins and antibodies that can later be extracted for use in vaccines and diagnostics.
Cape Bio Pharms scientists achieve this by “infecting” the plants with an engineered soil bacterium that transfers DNA to the plants and induces them to produce proteins known as antigens from that genetic information.
Unlocking large-scale production
Belinda Shaw, the chief executive of Cape Bio Pharms, said that effective and affordable testing and vaccinations are critical to tackle COVID-19, HIV and other diseases causing “immense health, social and economic harms to human health” in Africa and across the globe.
“Cape Bio Pharms, the holding company of Cape Biologix, has successfully shown how plant protein can quickly and economically produce proteins essential for disease testing and therapy.”
“Today … is a milestone for medical research in Africa and global public health.”
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