Afrigen
Cape Town biotech company hosting the WHO mRNA technology-transfer hub.
Afrigen has hosted WHO's mRNA technology-transfer hub in Cape Town since June 2021 and made an mRNA vaccine at laboratory scale in 2022; on 27 August 2026 CEPI funded an African-made Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026
Timeline for Afrigen
Hosted the WHO mRNA hub
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Mentioned in: CEPI awards Minapharm US$16.5m for EbolaBackground
On 27 August 2026 CEPI funded Egypt's Minapharm to take a Bundibugyo Ebola candidate into a first trial in Africa, five years after WHO opened its mRNA hub at Afrigen.
Afrigen Biologics is a biotech company in Cape Town, South Africa. WHO launched its mRNA technology-transfer hub there in June 2021 to give African manufacturers their own COVID-19 vaccine know-how, and the Medicines Patent Pool signed the hub's grant agreement with Afrigen. In 2022 Afrigen produced its own mRNA vaccine at laboratory scale.
No African-made COVID-19 vaccine reached mass use before demand collapsed, and Health Policy Watch has reported uncertainty and structural weaknesses at the hub.
Afrigen's hub made mRNA in 2022
CEPI granted Egypt's Minapharm up to $16.5m on 27 August 2026 for a Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine trial, the first of its five Bundibugyo candidates with an African manufacturer. WHO opened its mRNA technology-transfer hub at Afrigen in June 2021, and Afrigen produced an mRNA vaccine of its own at laboratory scale in 2022.
That 2022 milestone never turned into an African-made COVID-19 vaccine in mass use before demand fell away. Minapharm works with its Berlin subsidiary ProBioGen, and its Cairo candidate starts behind Moderna's, which entered human testing in Canada on 3 August 2026. The Medicines Patent Pool signed the hub's grant agreement with Afrigen after WHO launched it in June 2021.