Havana, Cuba: The creators of the Cuban anti-Covid-19 vaccines Soberana 01, Soberana 02, Abdala and Mambisa will receive this Monday the Gold Medal for Inventors, conferred by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The award will be presented by the director general of that United Nations organization, Daren Tang, who will be in Havana at the head of a delegation.
As revealed by the general director of the Cuban Office of Industrial Property (OCPI), María de los Ángeles Sánchez, it is a recognition of scientists for their contributions to national economic and technological development.
The WIPO Gold Medal Program was established in 1979 with the purpose of stimulating innovative activity throughout the world, particularly in developing countries.
It also serves to attract and increase public recognition of inventors and their work.
To date, Cuba is worthy of a dozen of these awards for obtaining products such as the drug Heberprot-P, from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), and the invention entitled ‘Anti-CD6 monoclonal antibodies for treatment and diagnosis of psoriasis’, from the Center for Molecular Immunology.
In Cuba, the first of these medals was received by the Finlay Institute of Vaccines (IFV) for the immunogen against Meningococcus (Neisseria Meningitidis) of group B, and in 1999 it was followed by Policosanol or PPG, a multiple-use drug, of the National Center for Scientific Research.
In this case, the scientists who created the vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are particularly recognized.
Soberana 01 and Soberana 02′ were developed by the IFV, while Abdala and Mambisa were conceived at the CIGB.