Cuban and Chinese experts discuss biotechnological products in cancer therapy
BY LILLIAM RIERA
THE use of biotechnological products in cancer therapy was analyzed by close to 50 experts and officials from scientific institutions in Cuba and central and provincial bodies in China at a recent seminar in Beijing organized by the Biotech Pharmaceutical joint venture and the Cuban embassy in China.
Biotech Pharmaceutical is a Cuban-Chinese entity, headquartered in Beijing with the aim of manufacturing and market biotechnological products created by Cuban scientists in that country. In the first stage, the human monoclonal antibody h-R3 or CIMAher (employed with promising results in the treatment of head and neck tumors in combination with radiotherapy) will be produced, even though other antibodies and vaccines are currently being developed.
Upon attending the inauguration of the production plant last year, Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas affirmed that "it will undoubtedly have economic repercussions, but above all it will have a social impact by offering Chinese patients a better quality life and, why not, all patients in the region."
H-R3, registered on the island since 2002 and with patents in 17 nations, was developed in the West Havana Scientific Complex Molecular Immunological Center (CIM) in whose modern laboratories 22 other products are currently being investigated including cancer vaccines.
This bio-medicine, in combination with radiotherapy, went through trials on 137 Chinese patients with "significantly efficient" results showing "promise" in the treatment of tumors of epithelial origin.
In Cuba, Phase I and II of clinical trials, to test safety and efficiency respectively, are being carried out at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, and the Medical-Surgical Investigations Center, as explained to Granma International in 2004 by Dr. Mauro Alfonso, the marketing director of CIMAB S.A., the entity exclusively representing and marketing CIM therapeutic products in some 20 countries.
At the Beijing seminar, CIM director Agustín Lage offered attendants a broad vision of the development of the Cuban Scientific Complex, which has 12,000 employees, half of whom are specialists dedicated to biotechnology and the research and manufacture of the resultant products, according to a PL report.
By way of example, Lage noted that when it was created in the 80’s, the Complex consisted of two or three projects, and currently has more than 150, half of which are focused on vaccines of great social impact.
In a brief introductory address Rigoberto Enoa, economic counselor at the Cuban diplomatic mission, explained the role played by biotechnology in Cuba’s social and economic development. At the close of the first lustrum of the 21st century, the island boasts some 38 biotechnological products and annually exports some $300 million in medicines to 51 countries.
The Cuban official also recalled President Hu Jintao’s visit to Cuba in November 2004, when the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation in the field of biotechnology.
Ren Zhiwu, of the state committee for the Development and Reform of China, highlighted the interest of the Chinese government in developing key scientific and technological themes, included in the new five-year plan adopted in March by Parliament.
From Granma
|
Cuba a leader in the immunization field
DR. Lea Guido, representative of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in Cuba, praised the vaccination model developed in Cuba and affirmed that the rest of the world has much to learn from the island in the area of immunization.
In an event to close the Americas Vaccination Week, celebrated in a Havana polyclinic, Dr. Guido highlighted the leadership and supporting role played by the Cuban state as a leader and support of that prevention strategy, which has worked to administer vaccinations to millions of children in Cuba and other countries of the region.
As an example of that solidarity, the PAHO representative in Cuba cited the case of Haiti, where Cuban doctors made it possible for that impoverished nation to be declared free of measles, according to XINHUA.
Two years ago, the U.S. epidemiologist Jon Kim Andrus, head of the WHO/PAHO Vaccination Unit, described the success in immunizing the Cuban population after the triumph of the Revolution as "impressive" and he recommended stimulating its scientific dissemination.
During his visit to the island leading a group of experts, Andrus thanked health professionals for the opportunity to learn from them.
The Vaccination Week promoted by the PAHO is part of a process that has been carried out for 30 years and that has permitted an increase in immunization coverage. In Cuba, the week coincided with the 45th anniversary of the campaign against Poliomyelitis, through which 524,000 children between three and nine throughout the island received the "two drops" of the oral vaccine.
According to Professor Miguel Galindo, head of the Ministry of Public Health’s National Vaccination Program, Cuba’s entire population under 60 has been immunized against poliomyelitis over the last 30 years, during which around 70 million doses have been administered.
Galindo recalled that before the triumph of the Revolution, Cubans were only immunized against tuberculosis, while currently the program that he directs, universally and free of charge, protects children against 13 diseases preventable with 10 vaccines; seven of them developed and produced on the island.
Their effectiveness has allowed Cuba to remain free of poliomyelitis (since 1962 —Cuba was the first nation of the continent to succeed in eradicating this illness), neonatal tetanus (since 1972), diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, rubella and tubercular meningitis in those under 12 months old.
In addition, last year the incidence of meningitis decreased by 25% and a reduction in the number infected by the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type B, which causes meningitis, pneumonia and otitis and leads to the death of a half million infants in the world.
Professor Galindo announced that a combination vaccine produced by Cuban scientists that protects against five illnesses (diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B) is soon to be introduced into this program and that infants are to be immunized against chickenpox.
Dr. Luis Herrera, director of Havana’s Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center, recently affirmed that the pentavalent vaccine has achieved a similar level of effectiveness as that produced by the transnational firm Glaxo SmithKline, according to the results of the first phase of clinical trials in which it was administered to more than 500 children aged 6-10 in the municipalities of Santa Clara, Sagua la Grande, Ranchuelo and Placetas.
Of high quality and efficiency, the vaccines that make up the pentavalent have a 95% success rate for diphtheria and tetanus, 80% for whooping cough, 98% for Hepatitis B, and 99.7% for Haemophilus influenzae type B, according to clinical trials.
|
