Dr. Rolando Pérez Rodríguez, of the Center of Molecular Immunology, reported on advances in the sector at the inauguration of the 5th International Seminar and National Workshop on Use and Development of Health Related Industrial Isotope Products, organized by the Center of Isotopes (Centis) and running through Friday, February 5, at Havana’s Hotel Riviera. Professionals from various countries, including Italy, Germany, the U.S., Hungary, Spain, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and El Salvador are participating in the event.

As the specialist noted, these biopharmaceuticals should have an increasing impact over the coming years in cancer treatment, with the aim of turning advanced cancer into a long-term manageable chronic disease, with an acceptable quality of life.

He also highlighted that the planned introduction in the country of advanced imaging equipment in nuclear medicine and oncology will lead to more effective treatment for malignant neoplasms, according to the specific biological characteristics of each tumor.

Also speaking at the opening of the event, Dr. Jorge Cruz Arencibia, director of Centis, noted that beyond import substitution, the gradual installation of a plant to produce yttrium-90 will enhance the use of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, joint complications due to rheumatoid arthritis and hemophilia, pain relief for bone metastases, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and other types of tumors.

(Granma)

Registered in Cuba since 2012 after being approved by the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed), the product shows positive results in prolonging and improving the quality of patients’ lives, and has low toxicity levels resulting in less of the unpleasant side effects associated with other necessary therapeutic procedures.

The safety of the product allows it to be administered over long periods of time through the primary healthcare system, and is also suitable for elderly people suffering from the disease.

Vaxira is patented in 17 countries, while clinical trials are currently underway to assess its possible use in treating varieties of breast and ovarian cancer

The relationship of the Caribbean country with Bioven, a company in which the Malaysian government is one of the major shareholders, is an example of South-South cooperation, Elnartd Blanco, commercial manager of CIMAB, the distributor for the Cuban Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM), who created the vaccine, told Prensa Latina.

Since 2008, through an agreement with the CIM, Bioven has been undertaking the clinical development of the Cuban vaccine in Europe and parts of Asia and Oceania, Blanco added.

Since then, Bioven has carried out more extensive testing on the drug, which targets non-small lung cancer cells, and Stephen Drew, chief executive of the company, has said that listing the product on the Alternative Investment Market, the sub-market of the London stock exchange, could help speed up commercialization.

The medicine is a form of immunotherapy that targets proteins called EGF (epidermal growth factor) which are overexpressed in cancer cells.

The Phase III trial, the final stage before regulatory approval, began in May with the participation of 419 patients from ten countries.
Much of the clinical development work is done in Scotland, in collaboration with the Beatson Institute in Glasgow.

(Prensa Latina)

The event, to be concluded today, was opened yesterday at the Havana’s Conference Center, an excellent opportunity to assess new strategies of the medicine, such as its implementation in medical practice, indications and therapeutic combinations.

Doctor Agustin Lage, director of the Center of Molecular Immunology, talked in the opening ceremony about the situation of cancer, and the use of therapeutic vaccines as part of the treatment of this disease.

He stated that globally, of all patients with malignant tumors, about three percent are receiving some form of immunotherapy, and the prediction is that in the coming decade this kind of therapy reaches 60 percent.

“The questions is not today whether immunotherapy is or not effective, but how long and in which patients,” the scientist noted.

In statements to Prensa Latina, Lage explained that Cimavax-EGF is making itself way worldwide. Several clinical trials are being ongoing in European and Latin American countries, and the interest for the product is growing, as that showed by U.S. scientists who recently visited the island.

(Prensa Latina)