08/13/2020 - 3:15
- Clarín.com
- Society
Esteban Corley , director of the Argentine laboratory that will produce the coronavirus vaccine, gave details on the times that the process will take and predicted that "in January we will have commercial batches."
The molecular biologist explained that "we are going to work quickly but this is a vaccine that is in phase 3 of the study and it is thought that at the end of October and beginning of November the definitive results of the efficacy of the vaccine will be available."
After telling that "there are regulatory issues" in all production and that there are previously "engineering and validation batches", Corley specified in dialogue with A24 and LN +: "Here we will surely have a vaccine in commercial condition in the first half of the year that comes. In January we believe that we are going to have commercial lots ".
In the announcement he made this Wednesday, President Alberto Fernández explained that the local production is part of an agreement that the Slim Foundation signed with the AstraZeneca laboratory, which is responsible for developing the vaccine by specialists from the University of Oxford.
President Alberto Fernández announced the production of the vaccine together with the Minister of Health Ginés González García. Photo Marcelo Carroll
In this regard, Corley pointed out that "we are now going to start with a technology transfer of the vaccine developed by Oxford in cooperation with AstraZeneca laboratories, which globally made agreements in all countries."
" We are going to manufacture the immunogen, the active principle of the vaccine . What, when injected into our bloodstream, will generate or awaken the immune response. This material will be transported to Mexico, where it will be formulated and packaged," added the director of mAbxience , which has its plant in the Buenos Aires town of Garín.
And he explained the process: "They send the vaccine strain that we are going to replicate to make the vaccine. They are living organisms that is, they are replicated in the laboratory. It is diluted, formulated and filled in a sterile way. It is a few francs to be able to go to patients or filled syringes. "
When asked about "the risk of failure" , the specialist considered that "it is very low in a vaccine like this because it has already gone through phase 1 and 2 in many patients with good results."
In that sense, he recalled what was said in a conference by the Minister of Health of the Nation Ginés González García: "A dose has been tested that in 1000 patients gave 91 percent coverage, antibody generation and cellular memory. To a subgroup He was given a second vaccination and there it was 100 percent shown that in vaccines it is something unusual. "
The building in the town of Garín where the coronavirus vaccine will be produced. Photo mAbxience
Corley also referred to the production capacity: "The goal is about 23 million doses per month with the intention of doubling and reaching 50 million. There is a primary need for about 250 million doses in the region ."
After noting that it is not yet known how long the immunity will last, the specialist said that in Argentina they should receive "about 10, 12 million people with one dose each . " Along these lines, he specified that health and safety workers and the population at risk, over 60 years of age, should receive them primarily.
In addition, he was reassured when referring to contraindications : "It is a very safe and effective vaccine. The adverse effects are normal for any vaccine. Nothing that draws attention or worries."
Regarding the cost of the vaccine, he anticipated that "there was talk between 3 and 4 dollars" while indicating that "they are sold to the States through tenders and purchasing systems" for distribution.
Finally, he referred to the Russian vaccine that Vladimir Putin announced: "I do not know it but I have no reason to think that it does not work because the safe and effective vaccine technology exists."
DP