Cuban scientific center for animal production, key to the development of vaccine candidates against COVID-19

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 15 (ACN) The National Center for the Production of Laboratory Animals ( CENPALAB by its Spanish acronym) is essential for the development of Cuba's biotechnological industry and has been crucial for the preclinical testing of the island's vaccine candidates against COVID-19.

Miguel Angel Esquivel Perez, head of the Department of Technological Surveillance at the institution, told Cubadebate that they had colonies of monkeys, and nobody asked for them until the current pandemic outbroke.

One of the problems there have been in the world with vaccines is that there have not been enough monkeys; it is not an animal that can be obtained from one day to the next, he pointed out.

Right now we can develop several vaccines in parallel because we had enough for preclinical studies, the expert added.

In this leading center in Cuba, besides the production of laboratory animals for all the island's scientific institutions, research is carried out, protein plants are grown, animal feed is produced and diets are designed (for laboratory animals and for those in zoos).

It also develops bioproducts, diagnostic kits and vaccines for veterinary use; offers toxicology services (experimental and regulatory) and preclinical vaccine development, as well as the development and implementation of automatic solutions for precision agriculture.

In total, 16 species of animals are held there under conventional, farm conditions, and 22 gnotobiotics (free of specific pathogens and used in specific research or as a genetic bank).
Likewise, in Cuba, CENPALAB is the ruling and coordinating entity of the National System of Laboratory Animals (Sinal).