Read more from Author Melissa Galbraith here: https://globelivemedia.com/author/melissa-galbraith/
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech the past entered the life of the Spanish December 27, 2020, the day on which it was administered, while the Modern has done it this week. And the drug created by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford land in our country in a short time to join the fight against the pandemic.
As a consequence, during the last month information about these vaccines has not stopped coming out. However, there are other drugs that are being developed in various parts of the world and that have fallen into oblivion. Companies Cuba, Canada, Korea O India They also continue to find a vaccine that allows the population to be immunized.
Cuba
Cuba currently works in four candidates vaccination: Sovereign 01, Sovereign 02, Mambisa O Abdala. According to the Cuban Public Registry of Clinical Trials (RPCEC), the first two are developed in the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV) and the other two, in the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB). Of protein S, the part of the virus that induces the strongest immune response, all Cuban candidates rely exclusively on the part that is involved in contact with the cell’s receptor: the RBD (receptor-binding domain or receptor-binding region), which is also the one that induces the highest amount of neutralizing antibodies, explains the virologist Amilcar Pérez Riverol to the media DW.
Of the four candidate vaccines, Sovereign 02 is the most advanced and on December 22, the second phase of clinical trials, in which it is expected that some thousand volunteers. Now, the Finlay Institute in Havana has ratified the signing of a agreement with the Pasteur Institute of Iran to “supplement” your clinical trials. “This synergy will allow us to move faster in immunization against # COVID19 in both countries,” said the Cuban entity on its Twitter account. This agreement is due to the low prevalence of the virus in Cuba prevents these tests from being performed effectively, although the vaccine will also be tested in about 150,000 people in Havana.
Canada
In the American continent, in addition to the famous vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer, there is another very promising one that is being created by a small Canadian company called Medicago, which has like shareholder to the largest tobacco company in the world: Philip Morris. The peculiarity of this drug is that develops the antigen protein against coronavirus thanks to tobacco plants. In November 2020, this vaccine candidate began phase II / III clinical trials to evaluate its efficacy, safety and immunogenicity after promising phase I results.
Asia
In Asia, in addition to the well-known Chinese vaccines Sinopharm, CanSino and Sinovac, there are also other countries that have several exciting projects. Especially highlights South Korea, which is working on the development of four vaccines. Further, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Israel, Thailand o Vietnam are some of the Asian countries with projects in development. It also stands out above the rest India, which has already approved the emergency use of the vaccine Covanix, developed by the indigenous company Bharat Biotech, although it is still in phase test.