President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Wednesday, 19 January 2022, join Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of the multinational conglomerate NantWorks, LLC, in launching the NantSA vaccine manufacturing campus at Brackengate, Cape Town.

The President and Dr Soon-Shiong will also launch the Coalition to Accelerate Africa’s Access to Advanced Healthcare (The AAAH Coalition).

NantSA, a division of NantWorks, and The AAAH Coalition aim to accelerate domestic production of pharmaceuticals, biologics and vaccines that will reach patients across the African continent.

Through the synergistic efforts of  members of The AAAH Coalition, self-reliance will be accelerated around next-generation vaccines manufactured in South Africa for Africa, innovative therapeutics and pandemic preparedness.

With the support of the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, institutes for infectious disease and cancer centres of excellence will be established at the universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand and the Chan Soon-Shiong Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CSS CERI) at the University of Stellenbosch.

The the launch of The AAAH Coalition and NantSA’s vaccine manufacturing campus follows the announcement made by Dr Soon-Shiong on 23 September 2021 of an ambitious initiative to build capacity for advanced health care in Africa.

The launch of the manufacturing facility will take place at the Brackengate Business Park in Brackenfell where President Ramaphosa and Dr Soon-Shiong will perform a ribbon-cutting for the official launch of the NantSA vaccine manufacturing campus at Brackengate and present the vision and mission of The AAAH Coalitionz

This event will be attended by a select group of invitees including representatives of government, academia and the biotech industry.

A hybrid media briefing and media Q&A will take place with President Ramaphosa and Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong.

Source: Government of South Africa