RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Cuban Government has offered to transfer technology on a COVID-19 vaccine — currently undergoing trial in that country — to Ghana through an agreement with the Ghanaian pharmaceutical industry.
Under the agreement, the Cuban Government will supply active pharmaceutical ingredients for the formulation, production and packaging of the vaccine in Ghana.
Known as the “Soberana 02”, the vaccine is Cuba’s most advanced candidate against the COVID-19 virus.
Countries such as India, Vietnam, Iran, Venezuela and Pakistan have also expressed interest in acquiring the Soberana 02 vaccine.
The Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzalez, who disclosed that, said the vaccine had passed the Phase I trial in Cuba, indicating that the Phase II trial had also been carried out on 910 patients, while Phase III trial was expected to commence before the end of February 2021.
Meeting with FDA
Mr Gonzalez was briefing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Mrs Delese Darko, on progress made so far on the development of Cuba’s Covid-19 vaccine.
The meeting, at the request of the ambassador, was to brief Ghana’s FDA on the status of clinical trials being conducted in Cuba on four Covid-19 candidate vaccines, each at different phases of clinical development.
It was a follow-up on an earlier one held on November 24, 2020, during which the FDA and the Centre for State Control of Drugs and Medical Devices (CECMED) of the Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cuba (MINSAP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the area of health promotion.