Brazil will be independent in vaccine production still in 2022

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On March 28, the Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovations, Marcos Pontes, spoke about the operational capacity of the National Center for Vaccine Technology, located in the city of Campinas, São Paulo State, on one of the campuses of the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM).

According to the minister, the vaccine and drug development center aligns with the “most rigid norms and world standards”. It will be a crucial factor in the independence of human vaccine production in Brazil.

During a statement on national television, Pontes explained that there have never been vaccines developed entirely by Brazilian scientists. This scenario should change with the investments in laboratories and research that are beginning to show results. “Our scientists are finally able to produce, here in Brazil, our own vaccines,” he explained.

Earlier, Marcos Pontes said during a lecture at the 2nd Brazil in Transformation Seminar, during the inauguration of the National School for Training and Improvement of Magistrates of the Union Military Justice (Enajum) in Brasilia, that the center will make Brazil independent in vaccines still this year.

“History shows us that when great catastrophes strike humanity, great achievements also occur. Mainly in science and technology,” said the minister, who stressed that the federal government has made “the largest investment in vaccine manufacturing in our history”.

It was also announced that developing a third-generation mRNA vaccine against covid-19 is already underway at the National Center for Vaccine Technology. “This vaccine has very advanced technology and can surpass many already on the market,” the minister said.

Pontes said that several immunizers would be developed at the center against covid-19, neglected tropical diseases, and other dangerous diseases, which until now could not be studied in Brazil for lack of adequate structure.

The National Center for Vaccine Technology is coupled to Sirius, the largest electron accelerator in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest laboratory in Latin America.

In his speech, Marcos Pontes also alluded to the anniversary of the take-off of the space flight that took the then astronaut on a space incursion – the only one manned by a Brazilian in history. The mission, which was destined for the International Space Station (ISS), began on March 29, 2005. “Believe in Brazilian science,” advised the minister.

With information from Agência Brasil