Jusvinza, a fact rather than a hope

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 8 (ACN) More than 136,000 Cubans who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an irreversible chronic disease that erodes cartilage and bones and mainly affects women, will get to benefit from the mass production and application of the biotechnological product Jusvinza (CIGB-814/258), an immunoregulatory peptide for the treatment of this disease and hyperinflammation.

Obtained and patented by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), the molecule has already shown its benefits in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, so it will likely be registered by the regulatory authority of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (the already iconic CECMED) with a view to the execution of phase III of clinical trials, as reported by Sc. D. María del Carmen Domínguez at a meeting Tuesday with President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and scientists and experts involved in the fight against the new coronavirus.

She pointed out that RA, which appears between the ages of 40 and 60, afflicts 1.2 percent of the Cuban population, whereas its worldwide prevalence is around 1%, with a woman-man ratio of 3:1.

Regarding COVID-19, Dr. C. Raúl Guinovart Díaz, dean of the School of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Havana, presented the forecast models, which point to a gradual reduction of cases in the next few days (with close to 100 cases per day in early March), albeit the number of deaths is on an upward trend in several provinces, a fact revealing of the need to keep the health protocols in place to tackle infection.