As a result of a universal vaccination program, no cases of acute hepatitis B in children under five years of age have been reported in Cuba since 1999, and none in those under 15 since 2006, according to Gustavo Sierra González, scientific policy director for the state enterprise group BioCubaFarma.
Dr. Sierra spoke during a press conference called by the Cuban Industrial Property Office (OCPI) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), yesterday, May 10, at the Havana hotel Memories Miramar.
He reported that BioCubaFarma today produces 10 of the 13 vaccines administered by the country’s public health system, which has allowed nine diseases to be eliminated, and five maintained at very low rates of infection.
The scientist additionally noted that a cholera vaccine being developed in conjunction with the Finlay Institute, the National Scientific Research Center, and the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute, is in the final stages of clinical trials, while phase two clinical trials with Heberprovac, for prostrate cancer, have shown positive results.
He reported that, as of the end of 2015, BioCubaFarma had been conceded 2,438 patents on an international level, the majority securing biotechnological products, followed by medical equipment and diagnostic tools.
Also participating was John Sandage, WIPO’s adjunct director for patents and technology.
(Granma)