Centers in Argentina and Brazil to develop mRNA antiviral vaccines – PAHO

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two centers in Argentina and Brazil are to develop and manufacture antiviral vaccines with messenger RNA technology for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced Tuesday (21), seeking to reduce the region’s dependence on imported supplies.

“We believe that these two centers will contribute proactively to the transfer of knowledge and technology in the region,” said PAHO deputy director Jarbas Barbosa, when announcing the initiative in a videoconference.

In Argentina, Sinergium Biotech, a private sector biopharmaceutical company, will partner with mAbxience, which belongs to the same group, to develop and manufacture the vaccine’s active ingredients.

In Brazil, the Bio-Manguinhos Institute of Technology in Immunobiologicals, part of the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) was selected.

A group of independent experts chose the two centers from among 30 or so interested in participating in a regional platform launched in August by PAHO with the goal of reducing dependence on drugs, vaccines and medical supplies produced outside the region.

PAHO seeks to expand productive capacities and strengthen a value chain in the region to increase access and technological independence of the Americas to vaccines, particularly for public health emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic, Barbosa explained.

“Every region must have vaccine manufacturing capacity,” emphasized Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization, in the presentation with Barbosa, which took place during the 59th meeting of PAHO’s Directing Council taking place online through Friday.

Swaminathan highlighted the advantages of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, the same used in vaccines from the U.S./German laboratories Pfizer/BioNTech and the U.S. biotechnology company Moderna.

“Compared to others, mRNA technology proved to be very successful for Covid-19 vaccines, and it is highly adaptable, not only against variants of the virus but against other pathogens,” she said.

The expert stressed this technology’s versatility, noting that work is currently underway to use it in vaccines against malaria and tuberculosis and for the production of monoclonal antibodies.

Unlike the attenuated or inactivated virus vaccine, mRNA vaccines instruct cells to generate a protein that triggers an immune response to infection.

Barbosa said that once this regional mRNA vaccine is available, the two centers are committed to apply to PAHO for its use, which will enable it to be offered to countries through PAHO’s Revolving Fund.

“We have a challenging task ahead of us. But we are driven by the conviction that the payoff will be a contribution to timely and equitable access to vaccines for our region, which continues to be hardest hit by this pandemic,” he said.