04/01/2021 19:13
Clarín.com
World
Updated 04/01/2021 19:37
Soberana 2
is the name of one of the four vaccines developed by scientists in Cuba that
entered the final phase of testing
this month.
Injectable, three application doses are foreseen, with intervals of two weeks between each one, and it provides a novelty in the field: it will
not need freezers
for maintenance.
This Wednesday, the first dose completed its Phase III trial
, as confirmed by executives and scientists involved in the project.
"Our country is saving and many millions of dollars will be saved from all these sovereignty results that we have achieved," said Eduardo Martínez, director of the state-owned company Biocubafarma.
If the development is successful, it could put the island on the path of immunizing its entire population and starting exports abroad by the end of the year.
"Due to the blockade (the United States sanctions against Cuba) that everyone already knows about the situation we are in the country, it would have been very difficult for us to have the results that we are having in the fight against the pandemic if we had not had
this industry that It has been created for more than 35 years,
'' Martínez added.
Martinez, the director of Biocubafarma, also indicated that the immunization was completed with the first dose of the Phase III study of the Sovereign 02 vaccine, the most advanced among the candidates developed by the island.
The study in Soberana 02
was tested to inject 44,000 people
who were joined by 150,000 Cubans in the capital who were included in "intervention studies" to obtain more data on the behavior of the antigen.
Evidence
The national director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Ministry of Public Health, Ileana Morales, stated on state television that by May
1.7 million people over
19 years of age
will have received the experimental vaccine
in the capital, which has 2.2
million
millions of inhabitants.
The other advanced vaccine is Abdala, which is being tested in its Phase III in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba with 40,000 patients and with another 120,000 volunteers in an "intervention study."
Mambisa, Soberana 01 and Soberana Plus, are the other antigens in development but that are in still earlier stages.
Unlike other vaccines released on the market,
none of the four need to be stored in extreme cold conditions.
The island's experts are also working on a fifth candidate, Sovereign +, based on a reformulation of Sovereign 1 and destined for convalescents from the disease.
All Cuban vaccines
are recombinant protein
, the same technique used by the American biotechnology company Novavax.
The coronavirus has spikes (viral proteins) on its surface to come into contact with cells and infect them.
These proteins can be replicated and then presented to the immune system to make it react.
By June the
complete
results
of Phase III of Soberana 02 and Abdala would be available.
If the vaccine proves safe and effective, the Cuban government would win a major political victory - and a chance to rescue the nation from economic ruin.
For a country that for decades has touted its sophisticated healthcare system as proof of the benefits of socialism, the vaccine
also offers a unique public relations opportunity.
The vaccine is called Sovereign 2, in a nod to the island's pride in its autonomy, despite hostility from its neighbor to the north.
Cuba is already exploring the idea of attracting tourists
to its shores with the irresistible mix of sun, sand and a dose of Sovereign 2.
Vicente Vérez, one of the scientists leading the team that developed the vaccine, has said that the island could offer vaccines to all foreigners traveling there.
“It is not just medicine and humanitarianism;
there is a great economic benefit if they manage to control the virus, "said Richard Feinberg, an expert on Cuba at the University of California, San Diego.
"It would give a boost to the reputation of the Cuban pharmaceutical biotechnology sector
, which will allow them to commercialize other medical products."
Cuban scientists say the government
will
likely
give away some doses to poor countries
, in line with its long practice of strengthening international relations by donating drugs and sending doctors to tackle public health crises abroad.
Cuba began
investing money in biotechnology in the 1980s
, as part of Fidel Castro's campaign to make the nation self-sufficient in the face of the US embargo that made it difficult to obtain drugs produced abroad.
The vaccine requires three doses given at two-week intervals
and, unlike Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, it does not need to be stored in a freezer, which could be attractive to poorer countries that often lack the equipment to maintain as many doses. frozen.
The plan to open vaccination to tourists seems, for some, a tactic to attract visitors, and with them the foreign exchange that the island desperately needs.
The combination of the pandemic and sanctions has created the worst economic crisis the country has experienced since the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, experts say.
However, Cuban scientists insist that the goal is to spread health.
Any gain, they say, is simply a side effect.
Source AP, The New York Times and Clarín
PB
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