How does the US blockade affect Cuban biotechnology?

Luis Javier Gonzalez Lopez has been working for more than three decades at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), and throughout these years he has experienced, one after another, the difficulties that the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States causes to the development of Cuban biotechnology.

The scientist, who started at the institution when he was a student in 1987 and today holds a PhD in Chemical Sciences, pointed out that his area of work requires expensive and essential equipment and, as a consequence of the U.S. policy, its acquisition has been limited.

Gonzalez Lopez, also head of the Systems Biology Department belonging to the Center's Biomedical Research Sub-Directorate, explained that, for example, mass spectrometers are necessary equipment in the characterization of biopharmaceutical products and when they began to be used in the world there were manufacturers from several countries; but currently most of the companies that manufacture them are Americans.

The first one acquired by Cuba belonged to a Japanese company, and was kept in operation at the CIGB from 1987 to 2000, thanks to the talent of Cuban engineers, because at that time it was very difficult to acquire spare parts since there were Washington investors in that company, and the presence of Japanese specialists on our island was not possible, he told the Cuban News Agency.

In 2000, in response to the updating of the industry, another spectrometer was purchased from an English company and, shortly afterwards, that firm joined another U.S.-based entity. Twenty years later, this equipment is still in operation and is the only one used to characterize proteins in the national biopharmaceutical industry.

Much progress has been made in this technique, he commented, but practically all those used for the characterization of biotechnological products are owned by U.S. companies or have shares in them.

Maintaining biotechnology in the midst of the blockade implies a great challenge, he said, and the effect of this policy also affects the diffusion of scientific results.

There are journals in which it is necessary to pay to publish, and many banks do not carry out transactions with Cuba as they are governed by U.S. extraterritorial laws; likewise, inserting drugs from the CIGB or from another company in that country is very difficult, due to the number of approvals requested, the scientist stressed.

As for the reagents, Gonzalez Lopez noted that more than 70 % of all those required for research have their origin in or are controlled by U.S. companies. Since direct negotiation is not possible, it is necessary to use intermediaries who, due to the risks involved in negotiating with the Caribbean nation, increase the price of the inputs up to two or three times.

Regarding the limitations in the entry of inputs for the Cuban biopharmaceutical industry, Yai Cruz Ruiseco, director of Imports, added that the CIGB acquires around 15,000 assortments of raw materials, miscellaneous, laboratory reagents and spare parts to maintain the institution's product portfolio.
He pointed out that, when purchasing goods manufactured in the United States, with capital from that country or with at least 10% of components from that nation, the initial price of the product -which in itself is high because it is a high standard industry-, is added to the costs of using intermediaries and transportation costs, which increased exponentially during the pandemic.

Another of the disadvantages mentioned is that in order to carry out financial transactions with a country other than the United States, it is necessary to go through several banks, which establish interest rates higher than the common ones or restrictions due to the risk involved in these processes with Cuba.

The expert also pointed out that due to the blockade, the island does not belong to business forums; therefore, it does not have access to credits, and this makes investments even more difficult.

She emphasized that the COVID-19 modified international logistics and, depending on the characteristics, inputs can take from three months to two years to reach Cuba, even if a fast track is used, taking into account the Cuban scenario.

This context has forced CIGB specialists, as well as those of the rest of the BioCubaFarma companies, to be creative in order to develop the scientific potential, diversify suppliers and manufacturers, bet more on collaboration with foreign laboratories and on the productive chaining in the national territory.