This morning, Grupo de las Industrias Biotecnológica y Farmacéutica, Biocubafarma (a Group from the Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Industry) announced the establishment of the first U.S.-Cuba biotechnological company under the name of Innovative Immunotherapy Alliance S.A., which will be based in Mariel Special Development Zone.
This new joint venture has been established between the commercial branches of two renowned research centers, namely: Centro de Inmunología Molecular de Cuba (Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology) and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in the United States.
This historic step forward in the scientific collaboration between the two countries will allow making research progress and the development of new cancer drugs that can extend the lives and improve the survival rates of thousands of patients in the United States.
The new biotechnological company will have CIMAVax-EGF among its products, a known therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer and three additional immunotherapy treatments developed in Cuba for different tumors.
During the first years, the company will primarily aimed at conducting scientific and clinical research, which will allow to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of these innovative treatments in the United States. If these studies should prove successful, the company will be in a position to export these products for the benefit of U.S. patients, once the relevant approvals have been obtained by the U.S. drug regulatory agency.