The vice prime minister of Cuba, Jorge Luis Perdomo, met on Tuesday with scientists from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), from the United States, who visit the island with the purpose of expanding collaboration with Cuban scientific institutions.
Perdomo assessed the meeting as “very important” and considered the cooperation between the US institute and the Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) as “an example of what both countries can advance despite the blockade policy against the island,” according to a report from the agency Latin Press (PL).
I had the pleasure of receiving Ms. Candance Johnson, President of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute of the #USA and his delegation. We exchanged on scientific collaboration with Cuban biotechnology institutions.#Cuba pic.twitter.com/3YevHZlxXh
– Jorge Luis Perdomo (@JorgeLuisPerd20) January 24, 2023
The official celebrated that recently the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury (Ofac) extended until 2027 the license to the RCPI to continue cooperation with Cuba in the fight against cancer.
The president and CEO of the RPCI, Candace Johnson, stressed that in recent years a long journey has been covered in this project that built a relationship of trust between the two institutions.
He added that Cuban scientists are “very innovative and develop different approaches to problem solving,” so this union can produce many good things for both parties, adds the publication.
Since 2011, the RPCI and the CIM have collaborated in carrying out clinical studies of various products developed by the Cuban institution for the treatment of cancer.
Both institutions came together in 2018 to create a biotech joint venture called Innovative Immunotherapy Alliancewith the aim of researching and developing new drugs and therapies against cancer.
At that time, Roswell Park, based in New York City, described the cooperative relations it maintains with Cuban scientists as “a historic trip,” specifically with regard to the commercialization of the therapeutic vaccine in the United States. CIMAVax-EGF created on the island.
This drug has shown positive effects in prolonging the lives of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, a type of lung cancer.
PL recalls that the RPCI was founded in 1898 as the first center of its kind in the North American nation and is currently a leader in cancer research in the world.
The CIM is a closed-cycle biotechnological institution in charge of the research, development, production and commercialization of scientific projects, especially for the treatment of cancer and other autoimmune diseases.
