The Cuban vaccine against cancer The CIMAvax-EGF lung system presents “favorable safety and effectiveness data” both in the studies carried out inside and outside of Cuba, and in its application at the different levels of health care on the island, according to experts.
As reported by Dr. Tania Crombet, director of Clinical Research at the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) on this Thursday’s day of BioHabana International Congress 2022more than 10,000 people have received the drug after its health registration on the Island, in secondary and tertiary health care, while it is already used in primary care, based on “certain requirements, related to the type of lung cancer and adherence to prior cancer therapies.
The expert explained that the use of CIMAvax-EGF in primary care “is an opportunity for patients, because it is not essential that they go to a hospital to receive the drug, since it is feasible and very functional to guarantee the immunization schedule for that way to improve treatment”, says an office of the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
“One of the most important advantages of the Cuban therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer is its use in primary health care,” highlighted Dr. @TaniaCrombet Director of Clinical Research at our Center.https://t.co/so2izVtrme
— Molecular Immunology Center (CIM) (@centro_cim) April 28, 2022
The doctor also highlighted the advances in the study of the drug at the Roswell Park Institute in New York, in which “it is investigated in the most advanced stage of patients, in the second line of non-small cell lung cancer,” she specifies. the report. He adds that in said clinical trial the vaccine is used in conjunction with a monoclonal immunomodulator called Nivolumab, a therapy that cannot be applied in Cuba as a result of the US embargo on the island.
“It has been shown that the combination is very safe and increases immunogenicity,” Dr. Crombet pointed out in this regard, adding that thanks to it “a group of patients are obtaining very long survival,” while “there is the possibility to identify new biomarkers that make it possible to anticipate populations that ultimately receive a great benefit from this combination”.
“We are very satisfied with how we are advancing on both sides,” said the specialist, who stressed that through this collaboration, Cuba has been able to insert its vaccine into the scenario that is used in the first world at this time and show that the combination is very safe and effective.”
In addition, he noted that “cancer is a major health problem in the Greater Antilles and having a drug that improves survival in lung cancer constitutes an important opportunity, especially when it is a very safe option.”
The Director of Clinical Research at the CIM recalled that, “unlike other alternatives, with immunotherapy a long-term treatment can be carried out without affecting the patient’s quality of life, which is demonstrated in the phase IV trial, which does not have such restrictive inclusion criteria”, points out the ACN.
For his part, Dr. Ernesto Chico Véliz, general director of the Innovative Immunotherapy Alliance (IIA) joint venture, formed by the CIM and the Roswell Park Institute, commented that the researchers at that scientific center “have the intention of exploring the use of CIMAvax-EGF in colon cancer”, which, he said, “is currently being discussed with the Cuban center for the design of a future trial”.
Despite the complex economic scenario in Cuba and the impact of US sanctions, which hinder access to products, supplies and financing, Cuban biotechnology has recognized work at the international level and maintains links and collaborations with institutions from various countries, among them the United States itself, of which an important entourage participate in the sessions of BioHabana 2022.
