Mandate
A developed Pathogen Economy ecosystem contributing 48.3 billion USD to Uganda’s GDP by 2040
Central facilities
To promote efficient resource utilization, we adopt a centralized facility model with shared user infrastructure accessible to scientists across disciplines. Below are some of our central facilities and how they are supporting each other.
Linkages of the current funded ventures in the Pathogen Economy
Directives from HE on Pathogen Economy
Return on Investment so far
Over the past three years, through government investment in COVID-19 PCR test kits and Covidex, we have recorded a return on investment of approximately UGX 150 billion, both directly and indirectly.
| Venture | ROI |
|---|---|
| PCR Kits | 136.8 Billion UGX |
| Jena Herbals (Covidex) | 11.4 Billion UGX |
| Proficiency Test Panels | $2 million |
Key Performance Indicators Summary
KPIs * List all your KPIs eg. Jobs created, Investment raises, Revenues generated that are relevant to your value chain. Give baseline figures in 2021 and current performance
Path Finder Projects
| SN | Pathfinder Project | Regulatory Framework | Research And Development (R&D) | Manufacturing Capabilities | Skilled Workforce | Intellectual Property Protection | Market access | Collaboration And Partnership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PCR Project |  | | | | | |
|
| 2 | Anti-tick /Alfasan | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Jena Herbals/Covidex | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Dei Bio-Tech & Pharma | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Micro-Heam | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Bio-marker Facility | | | | | |
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| 7 | Shishi interna | | | | |
Top Ten Supported Projects
| NO | Venture | Venture lead | Description | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CENTRAL LABORATORY ANIMAL RESEARCH FACILITY(CLARF) | Prof Kabasa John David | To provide animal models and provide clinical trials for therapeutics and vaccines across the Ecosystem | Preclinical testing of one natural therapeutic and 3 human vaccines |
| 2 | CLINICAL TRIALS OF NATURAL THERAPEUTICS PROGRAM | Prof Kirenga Bruce | Supporting Clinical Trials for Therapeutics across the Ecosystem | Clinical trials of three (3) products completed. 3 new products under enrollment |
| 3 | In vitro studies Platform for Natural Therapeutics | Prof. Potiano Kaleebu | Support in vitro studies for therapeutics across the entire ecosystem | in vitro testing of 30 therapeutics from natural products |
| 4 | Biomarker Research Facility | Dr. Kato Charles | A centre of excellence lab for proteomics and other biomarkers research and Discovery for the Diagnostics Ecosystem | Biomarker Research Facility (BSL2) established in Makerere University |
| 5 | Natural Product and Innovation Centre | Dr. Obakiro Samuel | Centre of Excellence in Therapeutics and Drug Discovery | State-of-the-art GLP facility for R&D in Natural Therapeutics constructed in Busitema University |
| 6 | Bio-Bank Facility (Level 2) | Prof Moses Joloba | A biorepository that will aid medical research and development | a. Supported validation of 30 diagnostic kits a. 3 rounds of sequencing done to inform prevailing variants and their origin. |
| 7 | PCR Project | Prof. Moses Joloba | A diagnostic platform that will aid in the development of PCR kits used in disease diagnostics | a. PCR diagnostic kit used for more than 2 million COVID tests, reducing the cost by 50% and saving the nation over USD 37 million, with the fastest turnaround time and quality, yielding the highest number of positive cases (100,214). The kit is ready for commercialization. a. Site secured at Namigavu, Nakasongola for the diagnostics plant in the Biosciences Park. Detailed design complete and funds for civil works committed to the contractor. a. Design and optimization of Oligos prototypes (primers and probes) for testing of other Respiratory Tract Infections available for scale up. a. Over 58 innovations in the pipeline at various stages of development. a. Developed Proficiency Testing (PT) panel for Microscopy, LPA, GeneXpert and DST which has been used for standardisation and quality assurance of most COVID rapid diagnostics tests in the country. Panel has been used in many African countries (refer to Figure E). Uganda has therefore established itself as a leader in diagnostics on the African continent, and we will ride on the same market for our diagnostics kits |
| 8 | Anti-tick /Alfasan | Dr. Saimo Margret | A GMP facility for the production of recombinant animal vaccines producing the antick vaccine as it first pilot vaccine | |
| 9 | Jena Herbals/Covidex | Dr. Ogwang Patrick | A GMP facility for the production of herbal therapeutics, producing Covidex as its pilot product | |
| 10 | Dei Bio-Tech & Pharma | Dr. Magoola | The pharmaceutical industry for the production of drugs and with an MRNA vaccine platform for the production of MRNA vaccines | |
| 11 | Micro-Heam | Dr. Kwesigye Cedric | A platform for GMP production of rapid Diagnostic kits |
