Cuba

Industry support for a new regional regulator for Latin America and the Caribbean is cautious and experts warn that it could harm competitiveness of the region.

Increasing the capacity for local development and production of medicines and other health technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean is among the objectives of the new deal.

Number of regulators formally agreeing to work toward creating Latin American regulator is growing.

The number of regulators formally agreeing to work towards creating a Latin American regulator is growing.

Medicines regulators from Mexico, Colombia and Cuba have pledged to create a new agency for medicines and medical devices of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Regulators in Mexico, Colombia and Cuba have affirmed plans to create a new Latin American and Caribbean Medicines Agency.

The Cuban government has approved the country’s home grown COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children, while Mexico is poised to authorize another Cuban vaccine.

At global level, Médecins Sans Frontières has called for all countries to support a revised version of the IP waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, singling out the recalcitrant European Commission for special attention.

Cuba is about to begin Phase III trials with one of its four homegrown coronavirus vaccines, Australia has provisionally approved the AstraZeneca/Oxford University product, and the EU has upped its orders from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

The UK BioIndustry Association has welcomed the government’s fresh investment in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity, while Sanofi and GSK are striking European and US deals for their vaccine candidate. A number of potential therapies are also being developed, including products based on interferon and hyperimmune globulin, but Roche/Chugai’s Actemra (tocilizumab) looks like a non-runner.