10-11-05, 9:18 am
Editor's Note: Because this and other medical advances discovered by Cuba's internationally renowned scientific community were made in Cuba, US residents will not have access to them unless they leave the US. The Bush administration has imposed a strict policy of preventing any meaningful exchange, including of medical products and treatments, between the people of the US and Cuba.
UP to 15 months of survival without significant side effects has been achieved in children suffering from brain tumors who were treated with the Cuban biopharmaceutical CIMAher, as part of Phase II of the clinical trials carried out by the German Oncoscience AG biotechnical company, which presented the results at the 37th Congress of the International Pediatric Oncological Society, celebrated this past September in Vancouver, Canada.
Obtained by specialists at the Molecular Immunology Center (CIM) of the island, the humanized monoclonal antibody CIMAher (TheraCIM, Theraloc, hR3) is being employed with promising results in the treatment of brain and neck tumors in combination with radiotherapy.
The clinical trials which are still underway in Germany have included 27 patients (children), of which nine have brain tumors that are very resistant to other treatments, but that responded to the monoclonal antibody therapy.
Five of these last cases have demonstrated excellent clinical benefits; three, stability of the disease and one, a partial response, according to information supplied to Granma lnternational by Rafael Magadán, marketing manager of CIMAB S.A., the entity that exclusively represents CIM therapeutic products in around 20 countries.
CIMAher was registered in Cuba in 2002 and holds a patent in 17 countries, among them the USA, Canada (where clinical trials have also been performed) and others within the European Union.
PRODUCTION PLANT IN CHINA INAUGURATED
A plant dedicated to the production and commercialization of the biopharmaceutical was recently inaugurated in the development zone of Beijing. In attendance were Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas, and Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice president of the National Development and Reform Committee of China.
?Undoubtedly this will bring economic results, but above all it will result in a social impact permitting a better quality of life for Chinese patients and, why not, for the infirm of the Asiatic region?, affirmed Cabrisas, according to a PL report.
The new installation forms part of the Chinese- Cuban joint enterprise Biotech Pharmaceutical.
In a statement to this news agency, Doctor Patricia Sierra, responsible for the Cuban part of the project, explained that the new plant will also facilitate clinical trials and production of other monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic vaccinations generated in CIM. Meanwhile, the installation is being equipped with the scientific bases and technologies for joint research in the area of medicines for the therapy of diverse types of cancer.
It has been affirmed that CIMAher, in combination with radiotherapy, has been tested on 137 patients in China with ?significant effectiveness? and constitutes a ?promise? for the treatment of tumors of epithelial origin.
In Cuba, the clinical trials of Phases I and II, respectively demonstrating safety and effectiveness, were carried out in the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, and the Center for Medical-Surgical Investigations, Dr. Mauro Alfonso, commercial manager of CIMAB S.A, informed Granma International last year.
Alfonso assured that studies of CIMAher are to continue in order to extend its usage to other areas of the body.
In the modern laboratories of CIM, part of the West Havana Scientific Complex, a total of 22 products are under investigation, among them monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of various types of cancer.
From Granma
