Iran, Cuba Enjoying Strategic Cooperation in Vaccine Production

In a joint statement on Saturday, the Cuban Finlay Institute and the Pasteur Institute of Iran pointed out that Tehran and Havana enjoy a long history of cooperation in the field of biotechnology. They further noted that the cooperation of the Finlay Institute and Pasteur Institute is a strategic relationship in the field of vaccine technologies. The statement said that the cooperation of the Cuban and Iranian institutions will have a positive impact on the health of both countries.

Following the successful development of the Subrana 2 vaccine against COVID-19, the Cuban Finlay Institute and the Pasteur Institute of Iran have agreed to conclude an agreement for the transfer of technology for the production of Subrana 2 vaccine in Iran. According to the officials of the Pasteur Institute of Iran, the first and second stages of the clinical trial of the joint Iranian-Cuban COVID-19 vaccine have been carried out in Cuba, and the third phase has been completed in Iran.

In a relevant development on Saturday, Head of Iran's Pasteur Institute Alireza Biglari said on Saturday that the joint Iran-Cuba anti-COVID-19 vaccine will be mass-produced early fall.
“The Iran-Cuba joint vaccine will be provided to the health ministry this week and will be mass-produced in October,” Biglari said. He added that the vaccine has been tested on 44,000 volunteers in the third phase of human trial in Cuba and 24,000 others in Iran, noting that the studies of Cubans were almost completed a few weeks ago and the results were released on Friday, showing that the vaccine prevents death and severe forms of the disease 100% and its efficiency stands at 92% in preventing infection to coronavirus. Biglari said that Iran will be able to produce 3mln doses of the vaccine each month from early fall.

Last week, Director of the Iran-Cuba joint COVID-19 Vaccine Project Ehsan Mostafavi said that the Pasteurcovac vaccine has shown high efficiency against the African mutation of the COVID-19 virus. “The results of studies conducted in Cuba showed that the vaccine still retains its immunogenicity against common variants,” Mostafavi said last Saturday. He added that in the third phase of clinical studies in Cuba, where the most common epidemic mutation is the South African variant, on a vaccine-avoiding variant, the results of studies were promising and showed effectiveness of the vaccine.

Mostafavi said last month that Pasteur Institute of Iran will produce and supply the health ministry with 3mln doses of Pasteurcovac vaccine within 3 months. “3 million doses of vaccine will be delivered to the health ministry by the end of Summer, but after boosting the capacity, we hope to increase production by 2 to 3 times in early fall,” Mostafavi said. He added that production of the vaccine at Pasteur Institute started concurrently after the 3rd phase of its clinical trial began, noting that the license for emergency injection of Pasteurcovac vaccine will be issued soon.

In related remarks, A member of the Health Commission at the Iranian Parliament said that Iran and Cuba COVID-19 vaccine will be mass-produced within the next few months.  Homayoun Sameyah broke the news on Sun. and said that the coronavirus vaccine jointly produced by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Cuba will hit the domestic market within the next few months.
While expressing his satisfaction with the success of joint production of COVID-19 vaccine between Iran and Cuba, he said, “Some news agencies claimed that Cuba considered the vaccine as its own vaccine and denied any cooperation with Iran, but based on authentic information I received from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, as well as a congratulatory message I have received from the Cuban ambassador in Iran on the success of joint production of this vaccine, I categorically deny this false news and I am happy and satisfied with this joint cooperation.”
He put the number of COVID-19 vaccines which is currently produced in the Islamic Republic of Iran at 6 and stated that proper budgets have presently been allocated by the government for the research and production of COVID-19 vaccine in the country. “We have pinned much of our hope to domestic production of coronavirus vaccine,” Sameyah emphasized.

Also, The joint Iranian-Australian coronavirus vaccine has passed the animal and first human trial phases in Australia and the second phase of clinical tests is under study in Iran, an official said.
“The license for the second phase of clinical studies has been issued, and thus 400 Iranians received two doses of the Spicogen vaccine, and blood samples were taken from these people, and the results of the studies will be presented to the health ministry,” Payam Tabarsi, one of the Iranian researchers participating in the project, said.

He noted that the Spicogen vaccine works on a double-dose immunity platform, and added, “The second phase of clinical studies will be conducted on 16,800 volunteers.”
“The production capacity of this vaccine stands at 5 million doses per month, and fortunately the infrastructures have been prepared and mass production will start necessary licenses are issued,” Tabarsi said. - Mehr, Fars