Despite de blockade, Cuba will save lives in the United States

The Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, announced the agreement reached between Roswell Park and the Center for Molecular Immunology

“This groundbreaking trial at Roswell Park is the result of our historic partnership with Cuba, and is a testament to New York’s storied legacy as a national leader in progress and innovation,” Governor Cuomo says.

Despite the obstacles imposed by the blockade against Cuba, scientific centers from both countries reached an agreement to introduce Cimavax-EGF in the United States, a Cuban vaccine against lung cancer and one of the few available options worldwide to control the deadly disease.

During the announcement, Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, referred to the agreement between Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Molecular Immunology, as the first joint biotechnology project between Cuba and the United States to fight cancer.

The New York Governor travelled to Buffalo to attend the ceremony for the announcement of the agreement between Roswell Park and the Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology.

In Havana, Grupo de las Industrias Biotecnológica y Farmacéutica Biocubafarma (a Group from the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry) announced that the first Cuban-U.S. biotechnology company has been established under the name Innovative Immunotherapy Alliance S.A., and that it will be headquartered in Mariel Special Development Zone.

Cuomo is in Buffalo, where Roswell Park is located, and made the announcement from there.

Dozens of thousands of Americans will potentially benefit from this Cuban biotechnology breakthrough, which started to develop in the 1980s, circumnavigating many limitations imposed by Washington to prevent Cuba from accessing state-of-the-art technology.

Developed by the Center for Molecular Immunology, Cimavax induces an immune response created by the patient’s own antibodies, which join the epidermal growth factor (EGF) and prevents EGF from biding to its receptor, thus deactivating the mechanisms of cell proliferation in tumors.

The vaccine extends the life expectancy in patients and can transform the disease into a chronic condition.

In October 2016, as part of the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States during the Barack Obama Administration, the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center signed an agreement to conduct, in the United States, an innovative clinical study on the Cuban vaccine developed by the Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology.

Roswell Park was the first institution of the sector to receive permit from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sponsor the tests of a Cuba medical therapy in the North American nation.

“We are grateful to Governor Andrew Cuomo for setting us on the path to this momentous announcement and to the White House and the federal departments of State, Commerce, Treasury and Health & Human Services for working with us on this, supporting and enlightening our path toward this collaborative relationship. This would not have happened without the vision of Governor Cuomo, who brought New York state leaders to Cuba, foreshadowing the enhanced collaborations between our two countries,” says Roswell Park President and CEO Candace S. Johnson, PhD.

Candace S. Johnson, President and CEO of the aforementioned U.S. center for research, thanked Governor Cuomo for his support to the Project with the Cuban counterpart.

“It all began with the Governor’s vision on the contribution of other developing nations in the field of technology, as is the case of Cuba”, Johnson said.

“We were here two years ago to announce that we were bringing Cimavax into the United States”, stated the expert. “Now the clinical trials are over and the results are promising”.

“We have the first joint project in the field of biotechnology between the United States and Cuba”, she added.

Johnson said that it was “very interesting” to advance in this project and mentioned all the steps they had to go through in order to secure the necessary permits from U.S. authorities.

Governor Cuomo went back in time to mention the beginnings of the trade mission to Cuba during the Obama administration and their plans to increase the exchanges with the Island. “I said to myself, we have to be the first to be there.”

He underlined that companies from his State were among the first ones to open businesses in Cuba, including Jet Blue, which marked the reestablishment of scheduled flights between the two countries after half a century of frozen activities.

It was that vision, added the Governor, which led us to the research on lung cancer and to Cimavax vaccine.

According to U.S. sources, the new binational company will have the objective of conducting scientific and clinical research, thus allowing to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of these novel treatments in the United States.

Should these studies prove successful; the company will be in condition to export these products for the benefit of American patients, after the relevant permits are granted by the U.S. administration for drug regulation.