Biotechnology regional innovation centre LIFElab reports that it has received a R1-million grant from global nonprofit organisation the International Aids Vaccine Initiative, for its Elevation Biotech (EB) project, which is aimed at Aids vaccine development and production.

The project will focus on researching inhibitors that hinder HIV cell entry and prevent the attachment phase of the viral entry process.
The EB project was established by LIFElab, the Wits Health Consortium, a subsidiary company of the University of the Witwatersrand, and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).

LIFElab deputy CEO Dr Carl Montague explains that the EB project is researching peptides to determine if they are inhibitors to HIV entry.

Montague, who is also the company’s human health executive portfolio manager, says that other investors have also indicated their interest in the application of this technology to other diseases.

LIFElab is also involved in the funding of a number of projects, such as the biotechnology company, Arvir Technologies, which aims to provide solutions to the HIV/Aids crisis in the country by producing intermediates for low-cost antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

Arvir Technologies aims to establish an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing business based on proprietary technology licensed from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. A key focus in this regard is the use of bacterial enzymes in producing the active pharmaceutical ingredients of highly active ARV treatments.

LIFElab is also a cofunder of the Centre for Aids Programme of Research in South Africa’s (Caprisa’s) safety trial to assess the effectiveness of a 1% Tenovir vaginal microbicide gel in the prevention of HIV infection in South African women.

He says that the safety trial should be completed by March 2010, and results are expected around July 2010. An application for a nonexclusive licence to produce the gel in South Africa has been negotiated with Conrad, a reproductive health and HIV prevention company, and the International Partnership for Microbicides, a nonprofit product development partnership. It will be made available to women if the trial and any subsequent trials required by the Medicines Control Council are successful.

Meanwhile, the R8,5-million funded by LIFElab for the hiring and training of people for Caprisa has resulted in the centre receiving a further grant of about $8-million from the US government through the government economic and humanitarian assistance agency, the US Agency for International Development, to develop Caprisa.

LIFElab is also funding the African Clinical Research Organisation (Acro), which was established in 2007.

“Acro has been established to operate at the same level of quality and service in clinical research, but, as everything is based in South Africa and funded by government, it should be able to provide a cheaper service to South African biotechnology companies,” explains Montague.

Acro has generated over R6-million in its first year of operations.

LIFElab is also funding two projects concerning the develop- ment of diagnostics. One of the projects researches HIV drug resistance.

South Africa’s genomics research facility, the National Genomics Platform (NGP), has the technology to test the levels of resistance in patients using ARVs.

LIFElab aims to produce a test that is cheaper and has a throughput that could be used in the public health system. It is working with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), the NHLS and the National Institute of Clinical Diseases, which would be the primary end-users of the test, if developed.

The second project includes developing a similar test for tuberculosis (TB) in partner- ship with Stellenbosch University and UKZN.

The NGP uses the latest technology from research-based healthcare company Roche, called GSFLX. The technology can sequence up to 100-million bases a run, whereas previously only a few hundred bases could be carried out in a run.

Montague notes that the centre is working on technology required in human health projects. He adds that this is expensive and that highly trained, technical and skilled people are required to run the facilities. For this reason, technology platforms are created and funded, where LIFElab can choose and train staff.

One of the platforms is the Institute for Diagnostics Research (IDR), developed by the local nonprofit organisation, the National Bioproducts Institute (NBI), which produces antibodies, such as the malaria antibodies used in diagnostic kits distributed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Montague explains that, as a result of there being no facility to develop the whole diagnostic kit, the NBI would sell the antibody to overseas companies, which would create a simple diagnostic test and sell it to the WHO. He says that it is impractical that the most technical part of the kit is produced in Africa, which ends up buying it back at a higher price from other countries outside the continent. The IDR was established to fill this gap in expertise so that the whole diagnostic kit could be developed in South Africa.

“The idea is to enable the institute to develop new antibodies to make more sensitive diagnostics for diseases, such as malaria and HIV that affect Africa, and to develop new diagnostics that can be commercialised in South Africa,” says Montague.

Meanwhile, a most recent platform in the country is the South African HIV/AIDS Research and Innovation Platform (Sharp).

Montague says that Sharp is funding research for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of HIV, which will ensure that public funds used in these projects are focused on solutions that will benefit the people.

The Department of Science and Technology has made available about R40-million that will be used in Sharp projects over a three-year period, and LIFElab is busy selecting which projects to fund.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a large US charitable organisation, recently invested about $50-million in a new insti- tute at UKZN, the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for TB and HIV. LIFElab is funding a P3 laboratory at the institute. P3 refers to the level of containment and biosafety.