Current Initiatives

Matrix Integrated Special Project

In 2023, the H3D Foundation received a major funding boost from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to evaluate an innovative continuous flow technology for cost-effective manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in South Africa.

The Integrated Special Project (ISP) is funded through MATRIX, a USAID project to advance the research and development of innovative HIV prevention products for women. Facilitated by the Oak Crest Institute of Science, the project comprises technology transfer and capacity building to University of Cape Town (UCT) scientists for the deployment of a Synthetron system at UCT to assist in the rapid and efficient synthesis of antiretroviral agents used to prevent and treat HIV.

In South Africa, the pharmaceutical formulation industry is well developed and produces more than half the final pharmaceutical product consumed locally, though it has not yet developed the capacity to synthesize and manufacture the APIs.

Led by Prof. Kelly Chibale, Founding Director and CEO (H3D Foundation), and Director of the H3D Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre at the University of Cape Town (UCT, South Africa), Oak Crest Institute of Science (Oak Crest, United States) in collaboration with industry partners at Chemical Process Technologies Pharma (CPT Pharma, South Africa,) and KinetiChem (United States), the developer of the enabling technology underlying the ambitious project, KinetiChem’s patented chemical synthesis system, the Synthetron™ flow reactor technology.

Once proof-of-principle has been demonstrated, the technology will be evaluated further by CPT Pharma for possible adoption. Completion of this pilot project has the potential to lead to widespread decentralized manufacturing of medicines throughout South Africa. The hope is that integration with the existing pharmaceutical formulation infrastructure will eventually democratise access to medicines in South Africa, and beyond, and reduce dependence on outside sources.

 

Strategic targets

  • Process Chemistry capacity strengthening in SSA
  • Partnership for technology transfer of cost-effective flow reactor “Synthetron” systems from USA to SA
  • Cost competitive process optimizations for the synthesis of three antiretroviral agents, cabotegravir, tenofovir and dapivirine
  • Input from CPT Pharma for cost of goods optimization from the design stage • Local industry partner, CPT Pharma to license any process improvements from UCT and scale up to commercial scale in their Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility