Russia collaborated in the delivery of 8,000 doses of Interferon Alpha 2B – a drug planned to be used against the Coronavirus – to Nicaragua, the St. Petersburg Institute for Scientific Research on Vaccines and Serums told TASS on Friday.
Interferon Alpha 2B was delivered to Nicaragua from Cuba with logistical coordination from the Latin American Institute of Biotechnology MECHNIKOV, a Russian-Nicaraguan JV manufacturer of biological drugs. The press service of the Institute of Vaccines and Serums of Saint Petersburg pointed out that considering the international situation this supply is significant for both Cuba and Nicaragua.
“We have responded to the request of our Cuban colleagues and developed the logistics of delivery of our influenza vaccine to Cuba in a way that allowed us to dispatch the Interferon on the same plane, which the people of Nicaragua need at this time,” said the director of the Mechnikov Institute, Stanislav Uiba.
Interferon has been recommended for COVID-19 patients in a number of countries, including Russia. The fifth edition of the temporary methodical recommendations on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus was published on Thursday. According to this document, Interferon Alpha 2B has anti-inflammatory, antiviral and immunomodulatory effects. According to the Russian Ministry of Health, the effects of the drug are based on “preventing the recurrence of viruses that enter the human body through the respiratory tract.”
According to statistics from the World Health Organization, Nicaragua has 6 registered cases of coronavirus as of April 10, 2020.
Original information https://tass.com/world/1142939
