Scientific journal highlights work of Cuban scientists against COVID-19

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 7 (ACN) The US magazine MEDICC Review, in an interview with Dr. Dagmar Garcia Rivera, Research Director of the Finlay Institute of Vaccines (IFV), highlighted Monday the work of Cuban scientists in the search for a vaccine against COVID-19.

This publication pointed out that the SOBERANA team, which is working on two vaccine candidates, SOBERANA 01 and SOBERANA 02 and on several other formulations from them, is led by Dr. Vicente Verez-Bencomo, director of the IFV, Dr. Yury Valdes Balbin, deputy director of that center, and Garcia Rivera.

PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, Dr. Garcia Rivera is recognized for her multiple contributions to Cuban science, including the development of a conjugated anti-pneumococcal vaccine, which is concluding Phase 3 of clinical trials in preparation for its introduction in the country's national health system, the publication added.

In late September, while the safety and immunogenicity trials of SOBERANA 01 continued, Dr. Garcia Rivera took a break from her busy schedule to give an exclusive interview with MEDICC Review, the journal reported.

Reviewing the steps taken in the Caribbean nation by the vaccine candidates, on August 13, 2020, Cuba's national regulatory agency, the Center for Quality Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED), authorized clinical trials for SOBERANA 01, Cuba's first vaccine candidate and the first in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Then, on August 24th, the double blind, randomized and controlled Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials started in medical centers in Havana to evaluate the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity.
At the time of writing, a second vaccine candidate, SOBERANA 02, was in advanced development and preparing to begin separate trials this fall.

The Cuban biotechnological industry, composed by more than 30 research institutes and production companies in the state conglomerate BioCubaFarma, has developed and distributed vaccines according to international standards of good practices and clinical and productive protocols for decades, the article continued.

BioCubaFarma supplies more than 800 products to the Cuban health system, 349 of which are in the Basic Drug List, the medicines approved for use in the country's health system. It also has 2,438 patents registered outside the island and its products, including vaccines, medicines and medical equipment, are in 100 simultaneous trials in 200 medical institutions and are registered and sold in more than 50 countries.

These factors have been an advantage in moving quickly and safely towards the development of a vaccine against COVID-19, the publication assured.

Shortly after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO, this expertise was marshaled to develop a Cuban vaccine against the disease. Researchers from the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), the Molecular Immunology Center (CIM) and the University of Havana’s Chemical and Biomolecular Synthesis Laboratory, with support from other BioCubaFarma enterprises, are leading the project aimed at delivering a safe, effective vaccine in 2021, the publication concluded.