The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) announced this Friday encouraging results in the use of the Cuban medicine HeberFERON for the treatment of patients with diffuse, poor prognosis or progressive brain tumors.
The Doctor of Science Iraldo Bello, leader of the project that develops the product in that scientific center, confirmed to the Cuban News Agency (ACN) that a phase I trial had already been carried out to evaluate its clinical safety in 30 patients, from the supply of three dosages (seven million, 10.5 million and 14 million units of interferon).
Received the @CIGBCuba and the #HeberFERON Prize ? for Creativity and Technological Innovation, granted by the Cuban Office of Industrial Property to institutions and personalities for positive results in the commercialization of products and services. pic.twitter.com/b8ebuN8T8a
— CIGBCuba (@CIGBCuba) April 28, 2023
According to the scientist, the research showed that the drug is safe and showed effects in prolonging the life of patients by up to 20 months, which is very satisfactory, taking into account that with the best therapies, patients live only two years.
“We have been evaluating in Cuba the combination of HeberFERON with chemotherapy and radiotherapy and we have results of preclinical studies, which together with the clinical development of the product will allow us in the future to request the Cuban regulatory authority for its health registration for the indication of diffuse, poor prognosis or progressive brain tumors”, added the scientist.
Dr. Duniel Abreu Casas, a second-degree specialist in Neurosurgery at the Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Cuba, told the outlet that the product offers hope for those who suffer from tumors cerebral disorders with a poor prognosis, while their management is extremely expensive in the world, from surgery to radiotherapy and medications.
Cuban drug in study for the treatment of various types of cancer
“Based on the research, we are all making this a safe and effective medicine; We hope that in a few years the final result will be that we are able to obtain control and a survival of the patients of more than two or three years,” he said, quoted by the newspaper.
HeberFERON is a combination of recombinant interferons alpha 2b and gamma in the same bulb. According to experts, it is effective in basal cell carcinoma: the most common skin tumor with a high incidence globally.
“We hope that the same thing happens in diffuse gliomas in adults, with a high degree of malignancy, poor prognosis or progressive,” said Abreu Casas.
