Cuban vaccine candidate included in global list of nasal immunogens

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 16 (ACN) The vaccine candidate Mambisa enters the global list of nasal immunogens that advance to the clinical trial phase, according to Gerardo Guillen Nieto, Director of Biomedical Research of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB by its Spanish acronym).

The doctor said that of the more than 300 vaccine candidates in the world and of those that have reached the clinical stage, only five are administered through the nasal tract, such as Mambisa, according to statements published on the official profile of the CIGB on Twitter.

He pointed out that it has been proved that for convalescents a single dose is enough because it stimulates the response and reaches a level of antibodies equal to or higher than those people who have not been in contact with the virus.

Those who receive this treatment must be people who have been discharged for at least two months after contracting the virus and must not be decompensated from their basic or chronic diseases, he clarified.

Cuba's Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices approved last July 13 the phase I/II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate Mambisa -intranasal- and the Abdala vaccine -intramuscular-, a study for the reinforcement of immunity in COVID-19 convalescents.

The benefits of Mambisa include its formulation as the only one of its kind based on the platform of recombinantly produced antigens, a highly safe technology (with slight adverse effects registered) and the possibility of administering multiple doses in order to strengthen the immune response over time, according to Marta Ayala Avila, Director General of the CIGB.

Another advantage is the potential to induce this type of action in the nasopharyngeal mucosa, which is particularly convenient since it is a vaccine candidate against a disease that enters through the respiratory tract.