UNIDO Praises Cuban Capability to Develop Anti-COVID-19 Vaccines

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) highlighted Cuba science’s ability to develop four anti-COVID-19 vaccine candidates, among them Soberana 02, soon to enter Phase III trials and bound to be the first Latin American vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

UNIDO remarks on its website that the Finlay Vaccine Institute recently announced that 100 million doses of Soberana 02 could be supplied in 2021 for both domestic use and export, and that countries such as Jamaica, Vietnam and Venezuela have already expressed interest in obtaining the vaccine once it passes the necessary safety and efficacy tests.

As international squabbles over fair distribution grow, amid charges that rich countries are hoarding supplies, a successful roll-out of Soberana II could provide a potential lifeline to developing countries seeking to immunize their populations against COVID-19, UNIDO’s article adds, praising the work of Cuban scientists and leaders and noting that decades of experience and investment in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors have enabled the industry to direct resources quickly and efficiently towards emergency vaccine development.

Cuba set about out to invest in the training of more doctors and created scientific research institutes to support the development of a home-grown biopharmaceutical industry that would meet the needs of its health care system, thus proving the benefits of targeted investments and political will, the publication highlights.

UNIDO recalls its 40-plus-year-long history of cooperation and exchange with Cuba, an effort that has boosted the development of the Cuban generic vaccine against hepatitis B and a rise in the production of the anticancer drug CIMAher (nimotuzumab), just to mention a few.

 In 2020, UNIDO teamed up with the Slovenian government on a Slovenian-Cuban venture to develop a business model bringing together innovation in the biopharma, medical and nanotechnologies sectors in an effort to advance the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.