Univercells is working on the manufacture of a vaccine against Covid-19
Walloon biotechnology company Univercells is joining forces with two partners, the Italian company ReiThera and the German company Leukocare, for the large-scale development of a vaccine against Covid-19 that could be produced in Charleroi.
This single-dose vaccine is based on adenovirus technology used by the biotech firm ReiThera. Leukocare is an SME specialising in vaccine formulation and treatment technologies. The two partners will therefore be in charge of developing the vaccine itself. Univercells' role in the consortium will be to support the development of the vaccine with its technology and potentially to manufacture it. Univercells is developing mini-units for vaccine production, so that it can supply a large quantity of doses using a minimum of space and operators.
They hope to produce their first vaccines in Jumet (Charleroi) for the Belgian population and southern Europe by the end of the year. Their ambition is then to export mini-factories to manufacture this vaccine locally in lower-income countries. For CEO Hugues Bultot, if Univercells' technologies are of interest to large number of people, it is because they will enable the production of a large quantity of doses at low cost. The consortium hopes to supply some 6 million doses of the new vaccine by early 2021.
Belgium's participation in this consortium is recognition of our capabilities in the biotechnology sector.