Univercells
 Univercells(Biotech complex)    | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Headquarters | Charleroi, Wallonia,  Belgium |
| Interests |  mRNA vaccine, cancer vaccine, personalised vaccine |
| Partners | Serum Institute of India, WHO, Pasteur Insitute, VaxThera, Afrigen |
| Sponsored by | BARDA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, European Investment Bank, Takeda Pharmaceutical |
| Membership | • Hugues Bultot • José Castillo • Kate Antrobus • Vincent Vanderborght • David Louvet • Tim Carlson • Hala Audi |
| Belgian manufacturing company funded by the Gates Foundation, producing "mRNA vaccines" and other biologics. | |
Univercells is a Belgian manufacturing company funded by the Gates Foundation, "dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to biologics everywhere in the world".[1]
Overview
Univercells claims to be "creating platforms for developing and manufacturing biologics, including mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, in a simple, scalable, and cost-efficient way"[2]. The company, funded bythe Gates Foundation, is involved in expanding mRNA vaccine production in Egypt, Brazil, Nigeria, India and other places.[3]
Univercells is also part of the push for personalised therapies, like "cancer vaccines".[4]
Activities
Univercells states that its "technology also supports very-small scale, local production. This allows countries, and even hospitals, to provide personalised therapies produced locally"[5].
Under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Grand Challenge initiative, Univercells developed a scalable bioreactor, to "lower the cost of viral vaccine production for critical public health vaccines". A collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania will apply this manufacturing to enable accessibility of gene therapies.[6]
In December 2024, Belgium mRNA specialist Quantoom Biosciences (a part of Univercell) and Univercells signed a partnership deal with the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in a move aimed at expanding the development and production of RNA-based vaccines and therapies in Brazil and beyond. The three parties agreed to build a new commercial manufacturing facility in Brazil. Other key elements of the agreement include the development of a second-generation saRNA (self-amplifying RNA) for vaccines. In 2023, Quantoom received $20 million from the Gates Foundation.[7]
In February 2025, Quantoom Biosciences[8] signed an agreement with Egyptian EVA Pharma and France's DNA Script to produce 100 million doses of RNA-based vaccines annually out of Egypt, in what they envisaged as "the first ever digital-to-biologics, end-to-end mRNA production platform, that transform what once took years into a process achievable in weeks."[9]
Partners
Partners, select funders and stakeholders as of February 2025[10]. Univercells has received funding from the Gates Foundation, $17 million in 2016 and $14 million in 2019.[11]
It was acquired by the US-based Donaldson Company, a provider of filtration products and solutions, in June 2023.[12]
Sponsors
| Event | Description |
|---|---|
| BARDA | Responsible for bioterrorism "medical countermeasures" (i.e. the actual biological weapons, like "vaccines") |
| Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Very influential and rich foundation established to take leadership of global health. |
| European Investment Bank | |
| Takeda Pharmaceutical | Japanese Big Pharma corporation |
References
- ↑ https://www.univercells.com/univercells-announces-the-acquisition-of-rlm-consulting-a-company-highly-specialized-in-providing-regulatory-guidance-at-all-stages-of-the-medicinal-product-development/
- ↑ https://www.univercells.com/press-release-altamira-therapeutics-announces-collaboration-with-univercells-group-on-nanoparticle-delivered-mrna-vaccines/
- ↑ https://www.univercells.com/newsroom/
- ↑ https://www.univercells.com/press-release-serum-institute-of-india-collaborates-with-univercells-to-bring-affordable-personalized-oncology-to-masses/
- ↑ https://www.univercells.com/press-release-serum-institute-of-india-collaborates-with-univercells-to-bring-affordable-personalized-oncology-to-masses/
- ↑ https://www.biopharminternational.com/view/univercells-expands-collaboration-with-university-of-pennsylvania-for-gene-therapy-manufacturing
- ↑ https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/cdmos-quantoom-univercells-ink-deal-expand-rna-based-vaccines-brazil
- ↑ https://quantoom.com/about-quantoom-biosciences/
- ↑ https://quantoom.com/africa-and-europe-join-forces-to-revolutionize-rna-based-vaccines-and-therapeutics-production-mou-signed-between-eva-pharma-dna-script-quantoom-biosciences/
- ↑ https://archive.is/qNr1X
- ↑ https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=Univercells
- ↑ https://www.biopharminternational.com/view/donaldson-company-acquires-univercells-technologies-for-136-million
