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Two Decades of Biotech Advances |
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By Patricia Grogg*
The
vaccine against hepatitis B is the star product of Cuban biotechnology,
which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In November, scientists
and investors from around the world will gather for a meeting in
Havana.
HAVANA - Since 1999 there haven't been any
cases of hepatitis B amongst Cuban children ages five and under,
thanks to a locally produced vaccine that is also being exported
to 20 countries -- it is the star among the products of this island
nation's biotechnology industry, whose main institution was founded
two decades ago.
All Cuban citizens born after 1980 received the hepatitis B vaccine,
produced by the center for genetic engineering and biotechnology,
CIGB, and certified in 2001 by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Every year, hepatitis B causes 520,000 deaths worldwide, according
to the WHO.
"It is our most important product in terms of volume of production,
export and impact on society," says Pedro A. López Saura, director
of regulation and clinical trials at CIGB, Cuba's leading institution
for scientific development, founded in 1986.
The vaccine also helped to reduce considerably the incidence of
hepatitis B in the Cuban population in general. Before vaccination
began in 1992, there were more than 2,000 cases annually. Now there
are fewer than 50 per year. "The trend is towards eliminating the
disease," said López Saura in a Tierramérica interview.
The history of today's cutting-edge biotech industry in Cuba began
with six scientists who in record time brought together the technology
for producing interferons -- proteins produced by cells of the immune
system -- used for treating viral illnesses and various types of
cancer.
This was a boost for technological development on a greater scale,
utilizing, for the first time, genetic engineering techniques and
modern biotechnology in the production of interferons.
"They served as the basis for all of the rest of the projects,"
said López Saura, the youngest of those pioneers, and one of the
CIGB founders.
Currently, "this center has 18 products in the Cuban healthcare
system, including diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic products.
There is not a family in Cuba that hasn't benefited from one of
them," the scientist said.
According to Carlos Borroto, CIGB assistant director, what makes
Cuban biotech unique is precisely this closed circle in which research
ends in a product that is manufactured and sold, with a direct impact
on the country's health system.
Along with CIGB, another five institutions of the so-called "biotech
scientific pole" comprise this circle: Finlay Institute, Molecular
Immunology Center, National Center for Biopreparations, Immunoassay
Center, and the National Center for Scientific Research.
They don't compete with each other. "We collaborate. One of the
traits of Cuban biotech is the integration amongst all of the entities.
There is always more than one center involved in the process. It
is something that gives us strength in comparison with other countries,"López
Saura said.
The biotech "pole" includes some 40 government-run institutions
employing more than 12,000 people -- among them, 7,000 scientists
and engineers -- in whose hands there are more than 150 research
projects under way.
Their portfolio encompasses pharmaceuticals and vaccines for human
use, products for veterinary medicine, early diagnosis kits for
various diseases, monoclonal antibodies for an array of purposes,
and anti-cancer compounds, which are marketed in more than 35 countries.
The monoclonal antibodies are produced in laboratories to unite
with specific targets (such as a protein) existing on the surface
of a cancer cell. Each monoclonal antibody recognizes just one protein
or antigen as its objective.
Among the pharmaceuticals and vaccines for humans, some of the standouts
-- in addition to the hepatitis B vaccine -- are those aimed at
fighting Haemophilus influenzae type B, and the combination immunization
against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.
The therapeutic products include antiretrovirals for treating HIV/AIDS,
as well as antibiotics, antimicoticos, analgesics, vasodilators,
anesthetics, anticoagulants, vitamins and muscle relaxants.
It is believed that pharmaceuticals and biotech currently constitute
"the first and second non-traditional sectors" of the Cuban economy,
for their revenues. Nevertheless, neither López Saura nor Borroto
were willing to reveal numbers in this regard.
The CIGB has joint businesses, which include technology transfer,
with some 10 countries. In India, the partnership allowed production
of the hepatitis B vaccine, while in Chine there is a project in
its final stages for producing liquid interferon.
"We aspire to develop new products with patents and sell them to
the First World, in Europe, Canada, Japan and even the United States,
although that would be more complicated," due to the embargo that
Washington has maintained against Cuba for more than four decades,
said López Saura.
* Patricia Grogg is an IPS correspondent. |
