President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend later today an announcement by Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of multinational conglomerate NantWorks LLC, of ​​an ambitious initiative to build advanced healthcare capacity in Africa.

The initiative will involve collaboration between NantAfrica, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI), the universities of Cape Town, Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch and KwaZulu-Natal.

NantWorks is a California-based multinational conglomerate leading the digital revolution in healthcare, technology, and media through the exploitation of science, digital infrastructure, high-performance computing, and communications.

NantWorks LLC has signed a collaboration agreement with CSIR and SAMRC that will initiate the transfer of biological manufacturing technology for COVID-19 and cancer vaccines, as well as next-generation cellular immunotherapies.

This will enable the rapid clinical development of next generation infectious disease and cancer vaccines in centers of excellence across the country.

Dr Soon-Shiong will make the announcement in a virtual media engagement that will be broadcast live at 5:00 p.m.

(With contributions from the South African government press release)