US Billionaire Launches ‘New Generation’ Vaccine Manufacturing Plant in South Africa Based on Cancer Immunotherapy
COVID-19 Science 19/01/2022 •
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and US billionaire Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong

CAPE TOWN – South African-born US biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong launched a vaccine manufacturing plant in the country of his birth on Wednesday, aimed at producing “second generation” vaccines to address COVID-19 and other diseases.

Soon-Shiong, who has made his fortune from developing successful cancer treatments, has committed an initial $195 million to NantSA – the South African operation that aims to produce one billion vaccine doses a year by 2025.

Soon-Shiong said that he had been moved to invest in improving South Africa’s vaccine capacity after witnessing “vaccine apartheid” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike current vaccines that are based on stimulating the body to produce antibodies, Soon-Shiong’s approach is based on stimulating the body’s T-cell responses – something he has done successfully in cancer immunotherapy treatment.

His US company, NantKwest, has been developing “natural killer” (NK) cells used by the immune system to identify and destroy cells under stress, including cancerous or virally-infected cells.

NantKwest describes itself as “a pioneering, next-generation, clinical-stage immunotherapy company” that is focused on “harnessing the unique power of our immune system using natural killer (NK) cells to treat cancer, infectious diseases and inflammatory diseases”. It has not yet developed a commercial product based on NK cells.

‘Vaccine apartheid’ prompted investment

“We have spent 10 to 15 years trying to show that, while antibodies are important, T cells are what kill. We came from the position of cancer, and we took that same technology and have actually put it into vaccines,” Soon-Shiong told the launch in Cape Town.

But he admitted that this approach has been “really difficult for people to grasp at the regulatory level, at the science level, at the implementation level”.

“We started this in the US, but then when I saw the need, the inequities that I call vaccine apartheid, that was happening here on this continent and within the encouragement of [South African] President Cyril Ramaphosa, I said this is what we needed to do and we’ve moved our focus to South Africa.”

‘Part of Africa plan’, says South Africa’s President

Opening the facility, Ramaphosa said that the “state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing campus” was “part of a far broader initiative to propel Africa into a new era of health science”.

“Today we are marking the establishment of a company that aims to develop next-generation vaccines that will reach patients across the continent,” added Ramaphosa.

“This new entity, we understand, will collaborate with the [World Health Organization] mRNA hub by providing RNA enzymes they need to produce vaccines.”

Ramaphosa also praised the $6.7million investment made by Soon-Shiong’s family foundation to train young Africans in biotechnology and life sciences.

Part of this investment involves the establishment of the Chan Soon-Shiong Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation at the University of Stellenbosch, which includes the donation of two large DNA sequencers.

 “South Africa’s capabilities in genomic surveillance are recognised worldwide and have been vital in our response – and indeed the global response – to the emergence of new COVID-19 variants,” said Ramaphosa.

The event also marked the launch of the Coalition to Accelerate Africa’s Access to Advanced Healthcare (AAAH Coalition) which, together with NantSA, “aims to accelerate domestic production of pharmaceuticals, biologics and vaccines that will reach patients across the African continent”, according to the South African Presidency.

This would accelerate self-reliance and Africa’s preparedness to face the next pandemic, added Ramaphosa.

Soon-Shiong, one of the wealthiest medical doctors in the world, has also been described as a “blowhard” and a “showman” by Forbes magazine – although the magazine also quoted a patient who said that his experimental pancreatic cancer treatment had saved his life.

 

 

 

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