11/14/2020 12:14 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 11/14/2020 12:14 PM
"We are very close to solving the problem or mitigating it substantively," Hugo Sigman, CEO of Grupo Insud in charge of the laboratory, said in reference to the coronavirus pandemic, which, according to anticipated, will
begin to produce in Argentina
on
November 23
active principle, that is to say the raw material, of the Oxford vaccine.
It was during an exhibition at the virtual meeting of the Foundation for Health and Social Security Studies (FESS), where Sigman also stated that the
application could begin at the end
of 2020
.
A week ago, the Argentine government announced that it had bought 22 million doses, in addition to the 25 million of the vaccine of Russian origin.
In December, the first export of the active principle of the vaccine would be made to Mexico, where the Liomont laboratory will be in charge of the fractionation and packaging stage to begin
its distribution
throughout Latin America.
"We have been working all these months with all the transfer of technology and control methods. We stopped doing everything we were doing to
dedicate our plant full time
to develop it", explained Sigman, who described this moment as a "milestone in the history of world medicine ", especially because of the
low cost
set for the vaccine and the criteria with which it will be distributed throughout the world.
Hugo Sigman founder CEO of Grupo Insud, dedicated to the pharmaceutical industries and in charge of the laboratory that produces the Covid-19 vaccine.
Photo: Juan Manuel Foglia
He clarified that the doses will have a value of
between 3 and 4 dollars
, well below the costs that are being evaluated for other vaccines, which in some cases amount to 37 dollars per dose.
Depending on the health system of each country, they may be applied free of charge to the population by the State, as is the case in Argentina.
"The inventor of this vaccine said that the objective was to make an agreement with a private company to mass produce it but on the condition that while the pandemic lasted, it would be
accessible
, that it would be produced at risk and that it would be distributed equitably throughout the world." emphasized the doctor and businessman.
Production at risk implies that laboratories begin to carry it out
before its approval
so that, as soon as it has the green light, it can begin to be distributed.
The risk is that if it is not effective, the doses must be destroyed and the laboratory
does not recover the money invested.
The Oxford vaccine could begin to be applied in Argentina from December Photo Archive Steve Parsons / Pool via REUTERS / File Photo / File Photo
He also reviewed the simultaneous development of all vaccines that, in the experimental phase, are being developed in different parts of the world.
"
There are 10 that are very advanced
, with different vaccine development platforms. Very novel platforms were developed with the coronavirus, such as those used for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, AstraZeneca and the Russian vaccine," he said.
These three use
adenoviruses
, "viruses from which they have managed to remove genes so that they do not replicate in our body and at the same time they have cloned them," he specified.
And he adds: "They enter our cell, they do not reproduce but they give us
the ability to produce antigen
."
In addition, he reviewed the other vaccines that are being developed, with different production methods, in China, the United States and England.
"All these vaccines are
going to be available
, if there are no incidents, between the end of this year and the first quarter of 2021," Sigman said.
He even went further and pointed out that "by July or August we will have a completely different world reality, with a fairly effective control of this disaster."
The Argentine drug plant Mabxience where the active ingredient of the AstraZeneca vaccine is produced.EFE / Courtesy Grupo Insud /
He highlighted the collaboration that existed since the beginning of the pandemic, both between the scientific community and in the economic contribution of private sectors, companies and philanthropists, to contribute to the
rapid development
of all vaccines and treatments.
"This pandemic began in January, we have 1.3 million deaths. There is no history in which science and humanity have
reacted with such speed
to generate vaccines and drugs," Sigman closed.
Look also
Another vaccine against the coronavirus: a clinic in La Matanza signs up volunteers for Johnson and Johnson's
Secrets, details and challenges of the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine