Ghanaian research institutions and biotechnology companies have secured up to €300,000 in funding to develop antibody-based treatments and diagnostic tools for malaria and mpox in a project aimed at strengthening the country’s pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing capabilities.
The initiative brings together the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) at the University of Ghana, DEK Vaccines Ltd., INCAS Diagnostics & Services Ltd. and local artificial intelligence startup minoHealth AI Labs.
The funding was secured through the PharmaVax Ghana Research and Development Call for Proposals, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in collaboration with the National Vaccine Institute of Ghana, with joint funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union.
The project will use minoHealth AI Labs’ artificial intelligence platform to support research and discovery, with the goal of advancing the development and scale-up of locally developed medical technologies.
For malaria, researchers plan to develop antibodies targeting the parasite during its blood stage, complementing existing vaccines and supporting efforts to eliminate the disease.
The mpox component will focus on developing antibody-based treatments and diagnostic tools to address gaps in treatment and testing options.
The initiative combines research into two infectious diseases with efforts to build domestic capacity in biotechnology, pharmaceutical manufacturing and computing, potentially reducing reliance on externally developed medical technologies.
The partners have not disclosed a project timeline, the expected cost of commercial production or when the proposed treatments and diagnostics could become available for clinical use.
The funding comes as Ghana seeks to strengthen local vaccine and pharmaceutical research and development, including the capacity to translate scientific discoveries into products that can be manufactured and deployed locally.
