Cuba Starts Production of Abdala Vaccine Candidate

Thousands of vials of Cuba’s vaccines against Covid-19 are being filled today in the island’s laboratories, after the start of the production of Abdala, the second vaccine candidate on its way to phase III.

Previously, the large-scale production of Soberana 02, the anti-Covid-19 proposal of the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), the most advanced clinical trial of the island’s four candidates, which should start its third phase in March 1, also began.

Thus, the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), the Abdala vaccine candidate leader, joins the injectable production scale-up.

As with Soberana 02, the idea is to provide sufficient doses of the molecule to continue the next stage of the clinical trial with a larger number of volunteers to check its efficacy and extend it to the rest of the population.

According to its developers, Abdala demonstrated safety and immunogenicity against Covid-19 in Phase II. Two months earlier, at the start of Phase I, the scientists favorably verified its safety and reactogenicity profile.

The biopharmaceutical industry, for its part, is already producing the molecule on a large scale, and to achieve this, several scientific institutions are pooling their knowledge and experience in the production of drugs with good practices.

In the case of Abdala, the Aica laboratories, part of the BioCubaFarma business group, are in charge of production.

Its directors previously explained that the industry has sufficient installed capacity, with technology to produce more than 100,000 bulbs per day, with filling volumes of 12,000 per hour.

Soberana 02 and Abdala are not the only anti-Covid-19 formulations being developed by the Cuban scientific community.

Two other candidates are being investigated, Soberana 01 (IFV) and Mambisa (CIGB), the latter being the only one designed for nasal administration.

The idea is to work on several formulations to benefit people of different ages and vaccinate the entire population, according to specialists.

Cuba could have immunized a large part of its population by 2021.