US-based Dyadic and Mathew Phosa-linked Rubic Consortium to Produce Covid-19 Vaccines in South Africa

By Gargi Bagchi – Managing Editor, The African Gazette           With only 1.5% of population having been fully vaccinated out of a population of 1.2 billion, there comes some relief in the form of a good news for the least vaccinated continent!

A US based biotechnology company called Dyadic International will be coming forward to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines in Africa.

An announcement was made on Tuesday July 27, 2021 by the company based in Florida, USA that they would be partnering with Rubic Consortium in South Africa. There will be transfer of technology and a licensing deal happening with the South African newly formed group, of which the former treasurer-general of the ruling ANC, Mr. Mathew Phosa is a member.

Rubic Consortium is a group in partnership with Johannesburg’s University of Witwatersrand. According to a vaccinologist at the University, Shabir Madhi – the technology transfer will happen from immediate effect and Rubic Consortium would be joining hands with Dyadic to initiate phase 1 of its research and study of the present Covid-19 vaccine. Madhi further stated that Dyadic may start the initial stage trial for the Covid-19 vaccine from October or November this year. Later on, Dyadic’s technology might be utilized for developing other treatments and vaccines.

Rubic Consortium will be producing vaccines making use of C1-cell protein production platform of Dyadic out of South Africa and sell those to other countries in the continent.

This development comes after Pfizer made an agreement, a few days back to produce vaccines in South Africa through Biovac Institute in Cape Town.

With multiple players entering the vaccine manufacturing space in Africa now, the continent certainly looks better prepared to fight out the deadly coronavirus.

Gargi – Currently Managing Editor of The African Gazette, she has been an independent content creator, researcher and editing professional. With 12+ years of experience across diverse writing genres, Gargi comes with an exposure of working with a multitude of global clients in the digital space. She has a penchant for reading and researching on new topics, and enjoys listening to music and traveling. She can be contacted through Email or Linkedin

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