Mayabeque, Cuba: The National Center for Bio-preparations (BioCen by its Spanish initials), based in Mayabeque, announced the entry into the production scaling phase of the Sovereign 02 vaccine candidate at its facilities.
With the vaccination of some 42,600 people, phase III of its clinical trial should begin, in the first days of March, of the most advanced vaccine candidate of the four that the country has for the protocol to deal with COVID-19.
Its production system is the result of an alliance between the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), the Molecular Immunology Center (CIM) and the National Center for Bio-preparations (BioCen), one of the only two High Technology Companies in the country.
To reach this stage, a technology transfer process was necessary, achieved in record time, due to the epidemiological urgency that the country is experiencing.
The Bejucal entity has plenty of reasons for pride. Recently, he was awarded the Prize for Scientific Innovation, granted by Resolution 1/2021 of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment and two projects formulated by BioCen were among the winners.
The first of them is the use of Biomodulin T from a preventive setting, to confront COVID-19, in which a large team of specialists intervened, led by Doctor of Science Mary Carmen Reyes Zamora.
During the disease prevention stage, BioCen announced the possibility of using Biomodulin T, a biological immunomodulator with potential restorative effects on the immune system in the elderly, as a preventive strategy to deal with COVID-19.
A team of researchers concentrated their efforts on various clinical study protocols for this new application, which they presented at the Minsap-BioCubaFarma Innovation Committee. The MINSAP approved the preventive use for vulnerable groups of older adults, based on a new optimized dosage schedule.
The product was applied in all the nursing homes in the country and its effectiveness in this context is monitored through two clinical trials with the collaboration of the Center for Research on Aging, Longevity and Health and the Institute of Hematology and Immunology.
The second of the awarded projects is the Development and introduction of a means of transport of samples for molecular diagnosis of COVID-19, which gave Cuba an effective national solution for the conservation of nasopharyngeal samples, taken from patients suspected of contagion with coronavirus, until it is processed in molecular biology laboratories.
The new product was incorporated into BioCen’s culture media portfolio and responds to the Government’s indication to stimulate as much as possible the national production of the medical resources involved in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.