the plan of China and Cuba to create a super vaccine against the coronavirus

Scientists in Cuba and China want to get ahead future pandemics by studying a potential generic vaccine that protects against different types of coronavirus and possible emerging variants.

The project Pan-Corona It is based in a joint biotechnology research and development center which has been operating since 2019 in the city of Yongzhou (central Hunan province) and is led by experts from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) of the Caribbean island. .

“All predictions and scientific rationality suggest that we will unfortunately have to suffer from new epidemics as a logical consequence of the increase world population, animal production and the movement of people ”, explained in an interview Dr Gerardo Guillén, Director of Biomedical Research at ICOLD.

The initiative focuses on coronaviruses not only due to the global crisis caused by SARS-CoV-2, but also taking into account that this family of viruses is one of the most likely to pass from animals to humans (a phenomenon called zoonosis), with a history such as MERS in the Middle East or SARS-CoV-1.

How is a generic vaccine made?

“We have learned from what has happened in recent years and we would be naive if we did not prepare for a possible new emergencies. China knows it too, ”he said.

So, in February of last year, when the covid-19 pandemic was still in its infancy, the IGBC presented this project to a call from the Chinese Ministry of Science and obtained funding to start investigating “something different,” given that “everyone” was already working on SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Pan-Corona is an antigen of recombinant type, which is the vaccine development platform in which ICOLD has the most experience, with a successful history as hepatitis B, in addition to two of the candidates against covid-19, one of them (Abdala) in the final phase of clinical trials.

“We are not starting from scratch or trying something new, so we are convinced that we will move quickly,” he said, recalling that the institution has more than 50 research projects not only in vaccines, but also in oncology, infectious diseases, cardioprotection or autoimmunity.

The vaccine candidate – explained the scientist – combines two immune response mechanisms: the humoral, which is the response of antibodyand the cell phone, which are activated cells to fight the virus.

“We are looking, among the different coronaviruses, for conserved regions for antibody and cellular responses,” he added.

In other words: a vaccine is being designed that artificially combines common fragments of different types of coronavirus already known, with the aim of inducing an antibody response in the body.

Scientific globalization

ICOLD bioinformatics and modeling groups worked on the design, whose task was to study and select the “regions” that are conserved in human and animal samples of the virus, so that they can be combined into a single vaccine. .

The large amount of information shared by the international scientific community in the wake of the current pandemic has been essential in moving this initiative forward quickly. “I hope this will continue,” says Guillén.

The fact that there are more 300 vaccine candidates developing at the same time in the world, more than 80 of them in clinical studies and thirteen vaccines already authorized “is something new in humanity»Underlined the expert.

But ironically, the new coronavirus pandemic, a determining factor in the design of this project, is also the factor that weighs it down.

Knowledge accumulated in recent months has propelled the work, but Cuban scientists leading the Pan-Corona research have not yet been able to travel to China due to the border closures and strict entry requirements.

Investigate under embargo

To be able to investigate on the spot in Yongzhou it’s crucial in this case, due to access to advanced technologies, materials and other resources, which is impossible in Cuba due to the acute economic crisis in the country and the obstacles imposed by the US embargo, which has also been strengthened in recent years.

“The blockade (as it is called the embargo in Cuba) is a huge limitation, even the cost increase of raw materials, which for Cuba is double, triple, quadruple because we cannot bring them directly from the United States, which is the closest market and where these inputs that we need most are produced. Also the limitation with the equipment, the spare parts… ”, Guillén enumerated.

However, these obstacles also made the island’s scientists more creative: “Without a doubt, the blockade forced us to innovate, because others might have what they need and we have to find other ways to achieve it. to the same result. “

“There is no such reagent, well, how can we replace it, how can we change the process,” he said.

The author is a journalist for EFE

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