Magoola makes Africa’s 100 most influential list

For a Ugandan patient who depends on an imported cancer medicine, an award for a scientist will matter most if it eventually helps make treatment easier to obtain and afford.

That is the larger promise behind the recognition of Dr Matthias Magoola, founder and managing director of Dei BioPharma, among Africa’s 100 Most Influential People for 2026. Magoola received the honour in Kigali on September 25 from the Accra-based Business Executive Media Group.

The organizers cited his work in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, describing it as a contribution to Africa’s ability to make more of its own medicines and vaccines. In its citation, the group praised his “visionary leadership and groundbreaking innovations in sectors vital to Africa’s progress, particularly economic development and healthcare transformation.”

The recognition draws attention to a question with consequences far beyond one company: can research and manufacturing in Uganda reduce reliance on imported health products, and will patients see the benefit?

Dei BioPharma is developing a large drug and vaccine manufacturing plant at Mattuga in Wakiso district. Magoola has identified affordable cancer treatment, reduced dependence on imported vaccines and the training of African researchers among his priorities.

Those are ambitions; the source material does not establish how much the proposed products would cost, when they would reach patients or how widely they could be supplied.

According to the announcement, Magoola has filed more than 100 patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They cover proposed treatments and vaccines related to cancer, HIV/Aids, Alzheimer’s disease, sickle cell anaemia, malaria, tuberculosis and diabetes. A patent filing records a claim to an invention.

It does not, by itself, show that a medicine has been proved safe and effective or approved for use. Among the filings described in the announcement is an “Affordable Universal Fusion Vaccine for Foot and Mouth Disease Infections”, which the source says was accepted for publication in September.

Magoola has presented it as a possible locally developed alternative to imports that could save government money. Another filing describes a guided mRNA approach intended to target mutated genes in cancer. Whether either approach achieves its stated aim will depend on further evidence and development.

The organisers say their selection begins with research consultants and ends with a 12-member jury drawn from fields including politics, economics, culture and diplomacy. They assess influence at national, regional and continental levels.

The award recognises perceived influence and achievement; it is separate from the scientific and regulatory tests a new medicine must pass. The Kigali honour follows two earlier awards cited in the announcement: a 2025 Ratna Pharma Award in India for vaccine research and a December 2024 International Molecular Biologist Award for work on mRNA-based drugs and vaccines.

At the ceremony, University of Rwanda vice-chancellor Prof Didas Muganga Kayihura urged African institutions to pursue innovation that strengthens their economies. Magoola credited President Yoweri Museveni’s support for the work.

“Without his unwavering support, these milestones would not be possible,” he said. “These achievements belong to Uganda—and specifically to our president, who has always stood by the scientists of this country.”

For Uganda, the next measure of this recognition will be practical. Readers need to know which products Dei BioPharma can manufacture now, which remain in research, and whether any resulting medicines will reach patients at prices they can afford.

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