{"id":318358,"date":"2025-02-18T17:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T22:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=318358"},"modified":"2026-02-11T11:59:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T16:59:14","slug":"cuban-interferons-an-extraordinary-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economy\/cuban-interferons-an-extraordinary-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban interferons, an extraordinary family"},"content":{"rendered":"

The COVID-19 pandemic marked us all, especially those of us who were on the front line of the fight against the disease. We were faced with something that surpassed everything we had experienced personally and professionally until then. The magnitude of the enemy was made clear to us with the death of family members, acquaintances, and colleagues.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most difficult thing in those circumstances was the lack of specific drugs to combat SARS-CoV-2. Having a vaccine seemed like something far away. Amid this confusion, we learned that Cuba had a drug capable of generating a positive impact in the fight against the disease: recombinant human interferon<\/a> (IFN) alpha 2b.<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew about IFNs because I studied them during my degree and even had to use them once, after a work accident. But it was not until the pandemic that I delved into the benefits of this pharmacological group, closely linked to a truly revolutionary topic in the field of medicine, <\/span>immunotherapy<\/b><\/a>, to which we dedicated <\/span>an article<\/span><\/a> in this column and which played a relevant role in the emergence of the Cuban biopharmaceutical industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cuban drug HeberFeron: eight times more effective against skin cancer<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n