Why Nigeria should invest in Soberena vaccine against COVID-19

By  Niyi Akinnaso

Soberana 02 is the name given to the most advanced of four vaccine candidates against COVID-19, being developed by the small island nation of Cuba. The other three are Soberana 01, Abdala and Mambis. Having followed the development of Soberana 02 from inception, I have no hesitation in recommending it to the Nigerian Center for Disease Control; the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control; and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 for serious consideration. But before you take your eyes off this page, please follow this brief introduction into Cuba.

Cuba is a small country, consisting of the island of Cuba and several minor archipelagoes. As of 2020, its population is just over 11 million people, less than the population of Lagos metropolis. It is a Socialist Republic alright, but it is one of the most influential states of the Caribbean region. You don’t have to love or hate communism to appreciate Cuba’s social, economic, educational, and, especially, medical and pharmaceutical strides.

Cuba is endowed with numerous natural resources, including petroleum, and cash crops, including sugar, citrus, coffee, tobacco, and livestock. Its land is very arable and the country is heavily industrialized. What is more, Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world at 99.8 percent. While Nigeria ranks near the bottom pile in the recent Human Development Index at 0.534, Cuba ranks high at 0.778, higher than any African country and higher than other countries in its region.

Cuba did not come about this achievement by accident. It invested heavily  in human capital development, as illustrated in its high literacy, and social welfare. Moreover, it deployed huge investment to its medical and pharmaceutical industries.

Slammed by total embargo by the United States government ever since the project to dislodge Fidel Castro was established in 1962, Cuba has had to find its own remedies. It quickly looked inward and began to build its own medical and pharmaceutical industries, in addition to developing its own economy to self-sufficiency levels.

In no time, Cuba emerged as the only country in South America and the Caribbean region to be medically and pharmaceutically self-sufficient and to even supply other countries in the region as well as in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Cuba’s advances in medical and biotech research attracted the attention of the famous American documentary film maker, Michael Moore, two decades ago. In a riveting documentary in 2007, titled Sicko, Moore compared the American and Cuban healthcare systems and gave Cuba the nod.

Cuba’s health policy emphasizes prevention and primary care as well as robust citizen participation. The result is the total elimination of polio, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, diphtheria, and many other communicable diseases still afflicting African countries, including Nigeria.

Of particular interest to me now is the attention Cuba has been paying to the development of vaccines, which led to the establishment of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, which has been in the forefront of its vaccine development in recent years. The communicable diseases listed above were eliminated with homegrown vaccines. Here’s how José Moya, local representative of the World Health Organization, put it recently: “Cuba has more than 30 years’ experience in producing its own vaccines and almost 80% of the vaccines in the national immunisation programme are produced in the country”.

Against the above backgrounds, Cuba’s investment in vaccines to inoculate against COVID-19 is not surprising. Its leading vaccine candidate, Sovereign 02, is now in Phase 2B, after recording huge success at Phase 1 clinical trial, when early immune response was recorded at just 14 days of trial. What is unique about the Cuban vaccine is that, unlike others which rely on the live virus or Messenger RNA to induce immune response, Soberana 02 only uses part of the virus. Its placement in the body generates immune response, without causing major reactions. Therefore, it does not require extra refrigeration, like other vaccine candidates.

The plan is to move the vaccine trial to Phase 3 with 150,000 volunteers in March. This will be the last phase before drug registration. Right now, Cuba is looking for partnerships not only in the trials but also in joint production of the vaccine in the coming months. Partner or no partner, Cuba’s plan is to produce at least 100 million doses of the vaccine this year and many more later. The figure can be ramped up with partnerships.

Already, several countries have expressed interest in acquiring the vaccine. They include Vietnam, Iran and Venezuela as well as countries with Cuba has collaboration agreements, including Pakistan and India. So far, however, only Iran has signed a partnership agreement with Cuba for joint production of the vaccine. According to the Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson, 50,000 volunteers would be recruited to carry out the Phase III clinical trials in Iran. However, technology transfer and joint production were preconditions for allowing human testing in the country.

Nigeria’s partnership with Cuba in this instance has three major advantages. First, it is much cheaper than investing about N400 billion in Western commercial vaccines to meet the shortfall in the free COVAX vaccine supply.

Second, since Cuba is ready to produce the vaccine locally in Nigeria, the impact on reviving Nigeria’s moribund vaccine production facility and on human capacity development cannot be overestimated. It could well be the establishment of a long-lasting vaccine institute of international standards.

Third, in addition to cementing South-South collaboration, such a partnership is sure to reinforce Nigeria’s international status and begin to wean the country from Western grips.

Fourth, there is a high symbolic value to Nigeria’s collaboration with Cuba. Here is a country with deep African roots, where cultural practices of African, indeed Nigerian, origins have survived for centuries. This is not surprising, given the high number of about 800,000 African slaves shipped to Cuba, twice as many as those shipped to the United States. Today, Blacks account for at least 10 percent of the overall Cuban population, while those of mixed blood account for about 27 percent.

For Cuba, the development of Soberana 02 to combat COVID-19 is a matter of sovereign pride. Indeed, that is why the vaccine is named Soberana in the first place. Soberana is Spanish for “Sovereign”. Iran’s partnership is also viewed by Iranians as a matter of self pride for their country. It could also be so for Nigeria and Nigerians.