10 November 2026
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), Belgian biotechnology company SwiftPharma and South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) signed a binding agreement to transfer innovative plant-based manufacturing technology to South Africa.
MPP and SwiftPharma marked the signing of the agreement at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels on Friday, 30 October, on the sidelines of a meeting convened by the Government of Belgium on the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme. Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP, and Jeroen Hofenk, founder and Chief Science Officer of SwiftPharma, took part in the ceremony in the presence of Sander Spanogh representing the Government of Flanders, whose support has made the project possible. Dr Setobane Mangena, Executive Manager for Future Production: Chemicals at CSIR, completed the formal execution of the agreement from South Africa.
Under the agreement, SwiftPharma will transfer its proprietary HyperXpress technology and manufacturing know-how to CSIR, with a view to enabling the production of Griffithsin, a naturally occurring protein with antiviral properties, in South Africa.
Griffithsin is a key component of Project ELYRA, a fast-dissolving vaginal insert being developed by SwiftPharma that combines Griffithsin with an antimicrobial peptide. The agreement covers the transfer of the manufacturing technology for Griffithsin, rather than the ELYRA product itself, which remains under development and has not yet been clinically validated or made commercially available. ELYRA is intended to offer women a discreet, self-administered option to help protect against multiple sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, HPV, HSV-2, gonorrhoea and chlamydia, addressing an important unmet need in sexual and reproductive health.
Through the agreement, SwiftPharma will provide manufacturing processes, technical documentation, materials, training and technical assistance to enable CSIR to establish and implement the Griffithsin manufacturing process in South Africa.
The technology transfer forms part of the programme Enhancing Regional Health Security in Africa through Technical Partnerships with Flemish Institutions (2025–2027), funded by the Government of Flanders and implemented by MPP in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO).
The agreement turns partnership into action. The initiative puts Flemish innovation into practice through technology transfer, strengthens regional manufacturing capacity in Africa and supports the development of capabilities in low- and middle-income countries to produce innovative health technologies closer to the communities that need them. WHO and MPP will now work with SwiftPharma and CSIR to support implementation of the technology transfer, including the technical knowledge, training and capabilities needed to establish reproducible production of Griffithsin in South Africa.
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The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to and facilitate the development of innovative medicines and other health technologies for low- and middle-income countries. Through its innovative business model, MPP partners with civil society, governments, international organisations, industry, patient groups, and other stakeholders to prioritise and license needed health products and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations.
To date, MPP has signed agreements with 23 patent holders for 13 HIV antiretrovirals, one HIV technology platform, three hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals, a tuberculosis treatment, a cancer treatment, four long-acting technologies, a post-partum haemorrhage medicine, one antiviral treatment for influenza, three oral antiviral treatments for COVID-19 and 16 COVID-19 technologies.
MPP was founded by Unitaid, which continues to be MPP’s main funder. MPP’s work on access to essential medicines is also funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Government of Canada and Coeffient Giving. MPP’s activities in technology transfer are undertaken with the financial support of the Japanese Government, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for International Cooperation, the Government of Flanders and SDC.