Cuba tests vaccine to strengthen innate immunity to Covid-19

A vaccine to strengthen innate immunity and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, such as the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, is in the final phase of clinical trials, the developers stated.

The vaccine has proved to be effective in people confirmed with the disease by preventing the spread of Covid-19 to serious stages, Gerardo Guillen, director of biomedical research at the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center (CIGB), said on the Mesa Redonda TV and radio program on Friday.

The vaccine will be especially beneficial for vulnerable groups such as people over 60 years of age, those with chronic diseases, comorbidities and decreased immune response capacity, which is precisely what makes them more susceptible to infections, Guillen said.

The results of the clinical trials, carried out at the Luis Diaz Soto Military Hospital in Havana, demonstrated that the Cuban vaccine stimulates molecules not only in the cell surface of the immune system but also the internal signal transmission from it, which are related to strengthening innate immunity.

The CIGB has other projects as important as this, the institution's experts are working in 16 research lines to fight the novel coronavirus, from studies of recombinant human interferon alfa-2b for nasal spray, to research works on transfer factor for groups with comorbidities, he stressed.

They are also working on specific vaccines against the novel coronavirus, which causes Covid-19: four specific vaccine strategies that are already being tested on mammalian cells, yeast, and different bacteria, Guillen stated.

This is very important because for the first time, a pandemic is controlled through the application of isolation measures, much of the population will be susceptible to the virus by not having contact with it and after the crisis is over, new positive cases may appear, he said.

Guillen stressed that CIGB-258 has been important to treat patients who have improved and dispensed with the use of assisted ventilation and intubation.