Beijing, Mar 21 (Prensa Latina) China and Cuba are working on obtaining a vaccine, called Pan-Corona, that is effective against different strains of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and prevents Covid-19, it was reported today.
According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, national scientists and those of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) of the Antillean island are developing the product in an open facility in the city of Yongzhou, Hunan province (center), for research between the two countries.
Gerardo Guillén, director of Biomedical Research at CIGB, told Xinjua that the project arose at the request of the Asian giant and has the approval of the Cuban Ministry of Science and Technology.
It is based on combining parts of the virus that are conserved and not so exposed to variation to generate antibodies, with those directed at cellular responses.
«It is a strategy that could protect against epidemiological emergencies of new strains of the coronavirus that may exist in the future,» he said.
According to Guillén, they are waiting to improve travel conditions so that other Cuban researchers can join the Yongzhou center and further promote the project.
Likewise, he highlighted the good state of bilateral ties in the biotechnology branch, where his country contributes experience and personnel, while the Chinese side supports with «the scientific capacity, equipment, logistics and resources.»
Last year the assembly of the Yongzhou joint biotechnology innovation center was completed, with equipment and laboratories designed by specialists from the Caribbean island.
There, projects and technologies obtained by the scientific personnel of Cuba will be developed.
This center is the result of bilateral cooperation and is part of the policy approved by the Chinese government to stimulate innovation capacities through local administrations.
"An Island on a Continent" 