Univercells, a Gosselies – Belgium-based developer of a vaccine manufacturing platform, received a $12m grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The company will use the funds for the development of a vaccine manufacturing platform with the objective of lowering costs and increasing vaccine availability and affordability in developing countries.
The development will be performed by a consortium which also includes Batavia Biosciences and Natrix Separations.
Under the terms of the agreement, the consortium will develop a manufacturing platform which will leverage Univercells’ process intensification and integration capabilities and technologies; Natrix’s novel single-use chromatography membrane platform; and Batavia’s vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities. The initial target is to establish a micro-facility for inactivated polio vaccine (sIPV) that can deliver 40 million doses of trivalent vaccine per year at a manufacturing cost of less than $0.15 per dose.
Led by Hugues Bultot, CEO and co-founder, and José Castillo, CTO and co-founder, Univercells leverages manufacturing sciences to design biomanufacturing solutions which allow clients to develop local bioproduction facilities, for viral vaccines and recombinant proteins.
FinSMEs
29/12/2016