Delese Darko, Chief Executive Officer, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has met with Pedro Luis Despaigne Gonzalez, the Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, to discuss progress on the development of Cuba’s COVID-19 vaccine.
A statement issued by the FDA in Accra on Thursday explained that the meeting followed an earlier one held in November 2020, where the Centre for State Control of Drugs and Medical Devices (CECMED) of the Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cuba (MINSAP), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the FDA, to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in the area of health promotion.
It said the present meeting, which was at the request of the Ambassador, was, therefore, to brief Ghana’s FDA on the status of clinical trials being conducted in Cuba on four Covid-19 candidate vaccines, with each at different phases of clinical development.
According to Mr Gonzalez, the COVID-19 vaccine, “Soberana 02”, was Cuba’s most advanced candidate against the COVID-19 virus, which had currently passed Phase I trials in Cuba.
He indicated that Phase II trials had also been carried out on 910 patients, while Phase III trials would commence in February 2021.
Mr Gonzalez again said Cuba intended to offer the transfer of technology through an agreement with the Ghanaian Pharmaceutical Industry for the supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for the formulation, production and packaging of the vaccine in Ghana.