Cuba announced work on a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate, in addition to reporting good results with a new clinical trial that uses rectal ozone therapy in patients confirmed with SARS-CoV-2, reported the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency.
Vicente Vérez, director of the Finlay Institute, said progress is being made in the second vaccine project; with the same Soberana 01 antigen, but on a different platform.
“We are finishing the formulation this week and filling next week, it’s a different vaccine,” explained Vérez, and assured that the trial is giving “very interesting responses” in animals.
At the meeting of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel with Cuban scientists working on projects against the coronavirus, the director of the Finlay Institute affirmed that they will speed up work on the vaccine to try to begin clinical trials in October.
The leading specialist recalled that the study of Soberana 01 began on August 24 and should continue next week with another 20 volunteers aged over 60.
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For her part, the director of research, development and innovation of the National Center for Scientific Research, Sarahi Mendoza, referred to a study with ozone therapy in patients with COVID-19.
She said that the use of this therapy in the conventional treatment of COVID-19 “increased by 40% the number of patients with a negative PCR test on the fifth day.”
Cited by Cubadebate, Mendoza added that “it was possible to reduce the hospital stay by 3.5 days on average per patient. Ozone therapy,” she pointed out, “was safe, well tolerated, and there were no biosafety incidents.”
These results allowed the incorporation of ozone therapy as a contributory treatment option in patients with persistent positive PCR, within the national action protocol for COVID-19, the source pointed out.
