Cuba is famous for several things – Fidel Castro, communism, Guantanamo Bay, rum and cigars... The latter have been enjoyed by moneyed smokers the world over – albeit covertly in the US. However, Cuba is now making headlines for medical research too – ironically for a vaccine to treat lung cancer.
With a GDP of less than half a percent of the US and a population closer to that of Greater London, Cuba is not the most likely hotbed of biotech research – especially given the tough sanctions and trade embargoes from the US and some other countries. However, lung cancer is the fourth biggest killer in the country so there is a strong need for a treatment and a willingness to devote scarce resources to the problem.
In 1962, in its Resolution on Communism, the Southern Baptist Convention stated its belief that “Southern Baptists should study communism as medical experts study cancer.” I wonder if their opinion has changed at all? Probably not.
The vaccine was developed at Cuba’s Centre for Molecular Immunology and has been suggested to increase life expectancy by up to six months. Now, Roswell Park Cancer Institute has signed an agreement with the Cuban medical centre to start US clinical trials.
Climavax, is given after the cancer has been diagnosed and acts, not by attacking the cancer, but by instructing the body’s immune system to slow cancer development and spread. This can give additional time for other treatments like chemotherapy of surgery.
The mechanism could be effective against other cancers too, so Roswell Park is hoping to develop the vaccine into a more conventional preventative treatment for wider cancer prevention.
This is not the only promising medical development to come from the country – where the average wage is around $20 a month. Cuban immunologists have also made their own vaccines for meningitis B and hepatitis B, and monoclonal antibodies for kidney transplants.
Climavax costs the Cuban government $1 a dose to make and is given to all its sick citizens for free. Should the US trials prove positive, it will be interesting to see what price is charged outside Cuba.
Read more [here].
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