SCIENCE-CUBA:
Two Decades of Biotech Advances
Patricia Grogg* - Tierramérica

HAVANA,  (IPS) - Since 1999 there haven't been any cases of hepatitis B amongst Cuban children ages five and under, thanks to a locally produced vaccine that is also being exported to 20 countries -- the star among the products of this island nation's biotechnology industry, whose flagship institution was founded two decades ago.

All Cuban citizens born after 1980 received the hepatitis B vaccine, produced by the centre for genetic engineering and biotechnology, CIGB, and certified in 2001 by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Every year, hepatitis B causes 520,000 deaths worldwide, according to the WHO.

"It is our most important product in terms of volume of production, export and impact on society," says Pedro A. López Saura, director of regulation and clinical trials at CIGB, Cuba's leading institution for scientific development, founded in 1986.

The vaccine also helped to reduce considerably the incidence of hepatitis B in the Cuban population in general. Before vaccination began in 1992, there were more than 2,000 cases reported annually. Now there are fewer than 50 per year. "The trend is towards eliminating the disease," said López Saura in a Tierramérica interview.

The history of today's cutting-edge biotech industry in Cuba began with six scientists who in record time brought together the technology for producing interferons -- proteins produced by cells of the immune system -- used for treating viral illnesses and various types of cancer.

This was a boost for technological development on a greater scale, utilising, for the first time, genetic engineering techniques and modern biotechnology in the production of interferons.

"They served as the basis for all of the rest of the projects," said López Saura, the youngest of those pioneers, and one of the CIGB founders.

Currently, "this centre has 18 products in the Cuban healthcare system, including diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic products. There is not a family in Cuba that hasn't benefited from one of them," the scientist said.

According to Carlos Borroto, CIGB assistant director, what makes Cuban biotech unique is precisely this closed circle in which research ends in a product that is manufactured and sold, with a direct impact on the country's health system.

Along with CIGB, another five institutions of the so-called "biotech scientific pole" comprise this circle: the Finlay Institute, Molecular Immunology Centre, National Centre for Biopreparations, Immunoassay Centre, and the National Centre for Scientific Research.

They don't compete with each other. "We collaborate. One of the traits of Cuban biotech is the integration amongst all of the entities. There is always more than one centre involved in the process. It is something that gives us strength in comparison with other countries," López Saura said.

The biotech "pole" includes some 40 government-run institutions employing more than 12,000 people -- among them, 7,000 scientists and engineers -- in whose hands there are more than 150 research projects under way.

Their portfolio encompasses pharmaceuticals and vaccines for human use, products for veterinary medicine, early diagnosis kits for various diseases, monoclonal antibodies for an array of purposes, and anti-cancer compounds, which are marketed in more than 35 countries.

The monoclonal antibodies are produced in laboratories to unite with specific targets (such as a protein) existing on the surface of a cancer cell. Each monoclonal antibody recognises just one protein or antigen as its objective.

Among the pharmaceuticals and vaccines for humans, some of the standouts -- in addition to the hepatitis B vaccine -- are those aimed at fighting Haemophilus influenzae type B, and the combination immunisation against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

The therapeutic products include antiretrovirals for treating HIV/AIDS, as well as antibiotics, antimicoticos, analgesics, vasodilators, anaesthetics, anticoagulants, vitamins and muscle relaxants.

It is believed that pharmaceuticals and biotech currently constitute "the first and second non-traditional sectors" of the Cuban economy, for their revenues. Nevertheless, neither López Saura nor Borroto were willing to reveal numbers in this regard.

The CIGB has joint businesses, which include technology transfer, with some 10 countries. In India, the partnership allowed production of the hepatitis B vaccine, while in Chine there is a project in its final stages for producing liquid interferon.

"We aspire to develop new products with patents and sell them to the First World, in Europe, Canada, Japan and even the United States, although that would be more complicated," due to the embargo that Washington has maintained against Cuba for more than four decades, said López Saura.

(*Patricia Grogg is an IPS correspondent. Originally published Aug. 26 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)