The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) signed a cooperation to expand the current National Vaccine Center (CN Vacinas), based in the Belo Horizonte Technological Park (BH-TEC).
Created in 2016, CN Vacinas is part of a strategy by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations (MCTI) that transformed the former UFMG Vaccine Technology Center into a place for research in biotechnology and innovation in immunobiologicals.
The agreement with Fiocruz aims to enhance the fulfillment of demands for national autonomy and sovereignty in technology, testing and production of vaccines, in addition to the development of diagnostic kits and pharmaceuticals, contributing to the Unified Health System (SUS) and Brazilian socioeconomic development.
The president of Fiocruz, Mário Moreira, explained that this is not just a plan for Fiocruz or UFMG, but “a project of autonomy and sovereignty at a time when reducing vulnerability in relation to technologies and products developed abroad is being discussed”.
“Covid-19 has shown that we need to be more confident in discussing and developing public policies,” he said.
The dean of UFMG, Sandra Goulart de Almeida, highlighted that cooperation with Fiocruz is extremely relevant for the institution and for research in the health area.
“This is a State project. The idea is to serve the country in an extremely necessary area, which the pandemic has proven”, he assessed.
