African Development Bank backs Biovac vaccine expansion
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a loan of up to $15 million (around R250 million) to South African vaccine manufacturer Biovac to support a new multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in Cape Town, announced on Friday. The financing is part of a syndicate led by the International Finance Corporation, with a long-term quasi-equity facility from the Human Development Accelerator programme backed by the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the Gates Foundation. The new facility, expected to be completed in 2028, will initially produce oral cholera vaccines and later add inactivated polio, pneumococcal conjugate and meningitis (MenX) vaccines. The expansion is set to raise Biovac's annual capacity to 500 million doses, positioning the firm as Africa's first end-to-end oral cholera vaccine producer and South Africa's first local manufacturer of inactivated polio vaccines. Founded in 2003 as a public-private partnership, Biovac has delivered more than 450 million doses across Southern Africa to date.
Israeli plant-protein startup Plantopia closes $9m round
Israel-based Plantopia has completed a $9 million financing round led by US dairy company Schreiber Foods, with participation from Siddhi Capital and local investors Yotvata, Arkin Capital and foodtech incubator Fresh Start. The funding brings total capital raised to more than $16 million and supports the company's move to industrial-scale production at a plant now under construction on Kibbutz Sdot Yam. Plantopia's platform, developed at the Hebrew University's Faculty of Agriculture, uses indoor vertical farming of sprouts to produce animal proteins identical to those in cow's milk, including complete casein with all four components. The founders say the process emits oxygen rather than carbon dioxide or methane and does not require light, special conditions or large tracts of land. The company targets the estimated $50 billion North American casein and milk-protein market.
EU-backed researchers advance lysosome-based wound therapy
An EU-funded consortium led by Spanish biotechnology firm Lincbiotech is developing a new class of compounds called lysosome-targeting chimeras (LYTACs) to treat chronic diabetic foot ulcers. The APTADEGRAD project, which runs through the end of 2027, brings together researchers from Belgium, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Rather than blocking inflammatory proteins with antibodies, LYTACs capture target proteins outside the cell, route them through cell-surface receptors and deliver them to lysosomes for degradation. In diabetic wound models the compounds reduced inflammation and accelerated healing, performing at least as well as antibody-based approaches. The team is testing both subcutaneous injections and a hydrogel formulation that releases the medicine gradually over time.
Transcripta Bio raises $24m for AI-driven neurological pipeline
Transcripta Bio has closed a $24 million funding round to advance IND-enabling studies and clinical preparation of small-molecule therapies for neurological diseases including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). New investors Mayo Clinic and Omnimed joined existing backers JAZZ Venture Partners, BlueYard Capital and a group of life-sciences family offices. The company's platform identifies disease signatures from patient-derived single-cell RNA-seq data and screens small molecules across about 80 percent of the transcriptome using an in-house drug atlas, then applies AI to prioritise candidates. In 19q12 syndrome, a rare ASD subtype, the team showed that the FDA-approved oncology drug entrectinib reversed disease signatures at low concentrations, with one patient showing clinical benefit within nine months. The company is also pursuing MSH3 modulators for Huntington's disease and plans to file an IND next year, with another cohort of programmes targeted for the second quarter of 2027.
Indian policy commentary frames biotech as geopolitical contest
In a published opinion column, Takshashila Institution co-founder Nitin Pai argued that biotechnology has become a currency of geopolitical power as AI and the bio-economy converge, and called on India to overhaul sector governance to retain its position as the "pharmacy of the world." Pai pointed to a recent US announcement that generic pharmaceuticals will face a 100 percent tariff in 2028 and 200 percent the year after, with patented drugs already tariffed at 100 percent. He framed the policy shift alongside Chinese advances as pressure on Indian manufacturers and urged reforms spanning healthcare, agriculture and economic growth.
Follow-up signals
Key upcoming milestones include the 2028 completion of Biovac's Cape Town facility, Transcripta Bio's planned Huntington's disease IND filing in 2027, the next cohort of Transcripta programmes due in the second quarter of 2027, and the scheduled close of the APTADEGRAD research project at the end of 2027.
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