Iran, Cuba joint COVID-19 vaccine to begin new phase of testing in Havana

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 20

Trend:

The Cuban-Iranian joint vaccine, after its success in stages 1 and 2, has entered phase 2b of clinical trials in Cuba.

Cuba has started the new phase of a clinical trial of the Subrana 2 vaccine, testing it on 900 volunteers in the Latin American country, Spain’s EFE news agency reported Trend reports citing IRNA.

The vaccine, undergoing human trial in association with the Cuban Finlay Institute and the Iran Pasteur Institute, is the most advanced vaccine of four selected options for the COVID-19. In this phase, 900 Cuban volunteers aged 19-80 will participate in the trial at two Havana medical centers for three weeks from Tuesday, according to Cuban health authorities.

Cuba and Iran reached an agreement on January 10, to cooperate in the field of clinical trials of the Subrana 2 vaccine, and if the second phase shows promising results, the third phase of trials will be carried out in Tehran. Up to now, all the initial stages of this coronavirus vaccine on 140 Cuban volunteers have shown successful results. Phases 1 and 2a were completed without any side effects.

Following 6 months of cooperation between the two countries, the initial stages of developing the vaccine, testing on animals, and conducting clinical trials have been completed. The results of phases 1 and 2 showed that the vaccine is completely safe and has an effective performance.

Cuba enjoys a strong reputation in the biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry, including the production of eight vaccines for diseases such as meningitis, lung cancer, and solid tumors. Cuban authorities say they are hopeful that they would be able to vaccinate a significant number of their population before the end of the first half of 2021.

The joint vaccine consists of the coronavirus antigen and tetanus toxoid (TT), its animal and human trials started following its development on October 19. The history of collaboration between Havana and Tehran goes back to the development of the hepatitis B vaccine at the Pasteur Institute of Iran.