How is the deal to obtain thousands of Argentinian volunteers and manufacture doses against Covid in the country

This Saturday, a group of Israeli scientists and doctors arrive in Argentina to strike a deal with local authorities, which involves the summons thousands of volunteers to participate in phase 3 trials of the Brilife vaccine, designed by the Israeli Biological Institute.

Behind this project is Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, one of the centers that has treated the most Covid cases in that country. The objective, moreover, is connect with a local producer, among which it is already commented that it could be Sinergium Biotech, of the businessman Hugo Sigman.

The delegation includes the director of the hospital, Yoram Weiss, and the Argentine-Israeli Jorge Diener, co-head of the delegation as well as the executive director of Hadassah International. On Friday, during his stopover in Paris, Diener explained to Bugle some details of the negotiation.

During the week, the group will hold meetings with Minister Carla Vizzotti, with Argentina’s Ambassador to Israel, Sergio Urribarri, who initiated the first contacts with Hadassah, in Jerusalem; with Argentine Israeli Chamber of Commerce President Mario Montoto, entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry and hospital authorities to explore where and who they can do the rehearsals.

-How do you plan for phase 3 of the Brilife vaccine?

-This is the next step that the Israeli vaccine needs for final approval, production and distribution. These days he is completing his phase 2, with 950 volunteers all in Israel. Phase 3 should already have between 30,000 and 50,000 volunteers. In Israel, there is no possibility of doing this. Two-thirds of the population are already vaccinated, with the Pfizer vaccine.

-How will you get 30,000 volunteers in Argentina?

– Not only the Argentines, we are in talks to have volunteers also in Brazil and Mexico

– How will they produce the vaccines?

– A local partner must be generated, capable of producing at least initially the quantity of vaccine necessary to carry out this phase 3. The Biological Institute of Israel would transfer the technology to a local partner. We are not inventing anything: it is a model that also creates an opportunity for a company on the South American continent to produce not only for one country, but for other countries on the continent. We are talking about how we generate a sustainable model for years to come.

– It appeared that the Sinergium Biontech laboratory of Hugo Sigman is at the origin of the Israeli vaccine and its production in Argentina.

– We’re talking about two different times.

– How is the situation today in Israel considering that they had high levels of contagion, but also conducted vaccination?

– What has been mainly highlighted is that if anyone had the slightest doubt that the virus is gained with a vaccination that reaches two-thirds of the population, the hypothesis is proven at least in Israel, with 65% of the population vaccinated. Today, there are still places closed but in the street everything is open with more or less normal activity of the people, there are almost no infections.

– At what level are the hospitalizations?

– We at the hospital have had up to 100 intensive care patients during the Covid peaks. We now have 7. The evidence shows that vaccination works. For the skeptics and those who don’t believe in vaccines, what will allow the world to weaken the virus is for the world to get this herd immunity.

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