UCT AND THE VACCINER&D PIPELINE

OPTIMISED | RIGOROUS | COLLABORATIVE | IMPACTFUL

The University of Cape Town is Africa’s top-ranked university with long-established, globally respected expertise in the vaccine pipeline for some of the continent’s most devastating epidemics.

The research-led university, which is also home to the oldest medical school in

southern Africa, counts five Nobel laureates among former students and staff,

including Max Theiler, who was awarded the1951 Nobel Prize in Medicine for developing a

vaccine against yellow fever.

This commitment to groundbreaking vaccine research that transforms society and

achieves health equity has continued, enabling Africa to solve Africa-specific challenges.

UCT is ranked 9th in the world in infectious diseases according to the 2021 US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings for Subjects9 UCT received the highest

number of direct awards and the most funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2019, compared to any other higher education institution outside the US

66UCT is ranked

in the world in clinical and health (THE Subject Rankings 2021)

UCT is ranked

in the world in immunology

(2021 US News & World Report Best Global Universities

Rankings for Subjects)

47In 2021 UCT was ranked BEST UNIVERSITY IN AFRICA (Quacquarelli Symonds, Times Higher Education, Center for World University Rankings, US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings)

25%UCT boasts a quarter or

of South NRF A-rated researchers. A-rated researchers are recognised by their peers as leading international scholars in their fields for the quality and impact of their research

UCT is ranked

in the world in public, environmental and occupational health (2021 US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings for Subjects)

36 UCT is globally ranked in the

in public health[ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2021]

in clinical medicine

51-75 76-100UCT is ranked in microbiology

(2021 US News & World Report Best Global Universities Rankings for Subjects)

79

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN’S CAPABILITIES ACROSS THE VACCINE R&D PIPELINEEPIDEMIOLOGY VACCINE DESIGN &

PRE-CLINICAL EVALUATION

• Monitoring disease outbreaks

• Genomic surveillance

• Monitoring immune responses to pathogens and vaccines

• Developing novel vaccine candidates

• Small molecule testing

• Evaluating vaccine efficacy in small animals

• Studies of immunopathogenesis of important human pathogens

VACCINE SCALE-UP

PHASE 1-3CLINICAL TRIALS

IMPLEMENTATION & OUTREACH

• Scale-up of vaccine production

• Pilot production for industry

• Evaluation of novel production platforms

• HIV, TB and COVID vaccine trials

• Evaluating vaccine efficacy

• Identifying and evaluating biomarkers for progression of TB disease

• Evaluating safety and immune responses to novel vaccine candidates

• Ongoing monitoring of vaccine effectiveness and impact

• Community engagement

• Policy development, implementation and outreach

UCT PARTNERS

National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS)Western Cape Department of HealthNetwork for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA)

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCESInstitute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine

Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa

Desmond Tutu HIV Centre

South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative

Centre for Lung Infection and ImmunityDivision of Clinical Pharmacology

Division of Medical ImmunologyFACULTY OF SCIENCEDepartment of Statistical Sciences

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine

Department of Paediatrics & Child Health

Department of PathologyDivision of Immunology

Division of Medical Virology

Department of Medicine

School of Public Health & Family Medicine

Vaccines for Africa

Desmond Tutu HIV Centre

FACULTY OF SCIENCEDepartment of Statistical Sciences

FACULTY OF SCIENCEDepartment of Statistical Sciences

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENTCentre for Bioprocess Engineering

Research

FACULTY OF SCIENCEBiopharming Research Unit

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCESInstitute of Infectious Disease

and Molecular Medicine

Department of PathologyDivision of Medical Immunology

Division of Medical Virology

Vaccine Research Group

Centre for Animal Research Excellence South Africa

FACULTY OF SCIENCEBiopharming Research Unit

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

Department of Medicine

Department of Paediatrics & Child Health

Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine

School of Public Health & Family Medicine

Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research

Department of Pathology

Division of Medical Virology

Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences

KEY School of Public Health & Family Medicine

Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine

Department of Pathology

Department of Molecular & Cell Biology

Department of Medicine

DEPARTMENTS & SCHOOLS

DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY

Undertakes scientific research into the mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATIVE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCESAims to understand disease, facilitated by state-of-the-art technology platforms and equipment, bioinformatics software and tools.

DEPARTMENT OF MOLECULAR & CELL BIOLOGYResearch areas include health and disease, plant and animal pathogens, and viruses, offering access to DNA synthesis facilities and proteomics/metabolomics platforms.

DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINEWith 21 clinical and service divisions, 11 major research units, and four affiliated departments of medicine.

Committed to the concept of a healthy population with equitable access to resources to achieve a better quality of life.

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH & FAMILY MEDICINE

DEPARTMENT OF PAEDIATRICS & CHILD HEALTH

Research programme focusing on childhood illnesses including prevention, treatment and advocacy strategies.

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICAL SCIENCESIncludes Modelling and Simulation Hub that develops mathematical modelling to predict dynamics and control of infectious diseases.

KEY PLAYERS IN THE UCT VACCINE LANDSCAPEFACULTIES

Home to the Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research which aims to advance South Africa’s developing bioeconomy.

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCESHome to southern Africa’s first medical school, the Faculty has built a formidable reputation through its history of medical achievement and cutting-edge research.

FACULTY OF SCIENCEHosts the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology where research includes areas such as health and disease, plant and animal pathogens and significant viruses.

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

CENTRE FOR ANIMAL RESEARCH EXCELLENCE SOUTH AFRICAA platform for integrative, interdisciplinary pre-clinical research and related veterinary scientific services.

FACILITIES

BIOPHARMING RESEARCH UNIT

Specialises in the production of high-value and/or pharmaceutically important recombinant proteins in plants, and of proteins of neglected viruses that can be used as reagents and possibly as vaccines.

UNITS

VACCINES FOR AFRICAAims to increase awareness of the benefits of vaccines and to promote the uptake of established and newly available vaccines in Africa.

VACCINE RESEARCH GROUPVaccine development for human and veterinary candidate vaccines including HIV vaccines. The only group in Africa that has developed two HIV vaccines that went to clinical trial.

OTHER GROUPINGS

DIVISION OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY

Seeks effective biomedical approaches to prevent viral infection including HIV and SARS-C0V-2, and to develop novel diagnostic tools for viral diseases.

DIVISION OF IMMUNOLOGY

Integrated programme of research, education and service to combat diseases.

DIVISION OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGYProvides clinical and laboratory pharmacology service, conducts pre-clinical and clinical research, and monitors therapeutic drugs.

DIVISIONS

RESEARCH ENTITIES

INSTITUTE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE & MOLECULAR MEDICINE

As the largest research entity at UCT, the IDM is a cross-faculty postgraduate research institute where scientists work together at the laboratory-clinic-community interface to tackle diseases of major importance in Africa.

DESMOND TUTU HIV CENTREResearch includes vaccine candidates and clinical trials for at-risk people in under-resourced areas.

WELLCOME CENTRE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES RESEARCH IN AFRICA

The only Wellcome Centre outside the UK. Research remit includes HIV-1 and TB, with clinical research facilities in Khayelitsha, where at-risk residents are offered a place in studies.

CENTRES

SOUTH AFRICAN TUBERCULOSIS VACCINE INITIATIVE

World leader in TB vaccine clinical research. Develops new, effective vaccination strategies against TB with field site in the Boland where the TB rate is among the highest recorded in the world.

CENTRE FOR BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING RESEARCHBrings vaccine concepts to the manufacturing line. Equipped with an Integrated Bioprocess Platform and controlled environment laboratory for scale-up and optimisation work to 70 L pilot scale.

CENTRE FOR LUNG INFECTION & IMMUNITY

Fully equipped and staffed research laboratories include a bio-safety level 3 laboratory, molecular biological and genomics platform, tissue culture facilities, and immunoassay facilities.

CENTRE FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY & RESEARCH

Multi-disciplinary research on priority infectious diseases spanning surveillance, HIV-prevention clinical trials, clinical epidemiology of TB and HIV therapy, socio-behavioural and health systems research.

INSTITUTES

OUR VACCINE RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGHS

UCT’s resources, infrastructure and expertise have facilitated significant

breakthroughs in the development and deployment of vaccines.

First real hope for a TB vaccine in 100 yearsThe final analysis of a multi-site medical trial produced the first signal of a potentially effective vaccine against TB in almost 100 years. The results showed a 50% efficacy of the candidate vaccine M72/ASO1E in reducing the incidence of lung TB disease in HIV-negative adults already infected with latent TB at the time of vaccination.

http://www.idm.uct.ac.za/news/first-real-hope-for-a-tb-vaccine-in-100-years

UCT virologists show COVID vaccines protect against mutating virusWith the fight against COVID-19 beset with concerns around the efficacy of vaccines in the face of a mutating virus, UCT virologists have shown that the body’s T cells maintain 85% of their capacity to detect variants, continuing to mount a substantial defence to prevent severe illness, hospitalisation and death.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-08-11-t-cells-face-off-against-variants-to-boost-covid-19-immunity

Finding could reduce a major barrier in developing a cure for HIVResearchers reveal an unexpected finding that could lead to better therapies towards reducing the HIV reservoir, a major barrier to developing a cure for HIV.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2019-10-15-breaking-barriers-to-a-cure-for-hiv

UCT scientists to start Phase 1 clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidateUCT researchers start the Phase 1 clinical trial of the hAd5 T-cell COVID-19 vaccine candidate at the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa’s Khayelitsha clinical research site.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-02-18-uct-scientists-to-start-phase-1-clinical-trial-of-covid-19-vaccine-candidate

New multi-functional TB blood test validatedResearchers develop a new, simple blood-based test that has the potential to serve multiple functions in the fight against TB. RISK6 can identify healthy individuals who are at risk of developing TB, identify people with subclinical or clinical disease and contribute to understanding how well a patient would respond to treatment.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2020-05-25-new-multi-functional-tb-blood-test-validated

A recipe for homegrown vaccines in plants: water, light and sugarA collaborative study by UCT’S Biopharming Research Unit (BRU) and the University of Southampton adds to a growing body of work driven by the BRU that aims to address bottlenecks in plant-based vaccine production. This work has so far yielded four patent applications, and the underlying technology is being applied to produce vaccines from the pandemic and emerging viruses that are problematic in Africa.

www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-08-03-a-recipe-for-homegrown-vaccines-in-plants-water-light-and-sugar

Important proof-of-concept will develop platform for emerging virusesUniversity of Cape Town scientists, who spent two decades researching plant-made vaccines before turning their attention to COVID-19 when the pandemic hit, have successfully reported the expression of the near-full length SARS-CoV-2 spike vaccine in plants. However, without the critical investment necessary for further development and to move their research beyond the laboratory, its potential is unlikely to be realised.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/news/research-office/-article/2021-09-17-investment-critical-for-lucrative-plant-based-vaccine-market

Groundbreaking TB testing project enters critical phaseThe gXACT Model project, which seeks to advance community-based active case finding of TB using point-of-care molecular technology, is set to revolutionise TB diagnosis and treatment, taking diagnostic tests out of the laboratory and into the community.

UCT spin-off receives millions in European fundingCape Bio Pharms, a biotech company with roots in UCT’s Biopharming Research Unit receives a multimillion-rand capital injection to fast-track the production of affordable plant-based rapid diagnostic COVID-19 test kits.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2020-12-22-uct-spin-off-receives-millions-in-european-

SA a world leader in HIV researchA new report charting global trends in HIV/AIDS research has identified South Africa as one of the global leaders in the field, with UCT revealed to be the most influential institution, based on its global field-weighted citation impact.

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2019-12-04-sa-a-world-leader-in-hiv-research

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2021-05-17-community-based-tb-testing-intervention-enters-critical-multilayer-phase

CONTACT US +27 (0) 21 650 4015

researchvisibility@uct.ac.za

@UCT_Research

@UCT Research and Innovation

@University of Cape Town

https://www.news.uct.ac.za/news/research-office/