The Latin American Institute of Biotechnology MECHNIKOV, S.A. is preparing to start the production of the vaccine against COVID-19 CoviVac whose production technology will be transferred to the Institute by the developer of the vaccine, the Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiological Preparations M.P. Chumakov ACR.
The technology transferred from the Russian specialists to the Nicaraguan specialists of the MECHNIKOV Institute will allow to obtain knowledge of all the stages necessary for the production of the aforementioned vaccine, which in turn will lead to the possibility of proceeding with the vaccination of the Nicaraguan population next year, in 2022. This topic was widely discussed during the VI International Congress: The world after the pandemic: development trends of the pharmaceutical industry, held from October 18 to 21 of the current year in the city of Managua both by the representatives of the Chumakov Center and those of the MECHNIKOV Institute.
The initiative is fully supported by the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua, which confirms the public announcement of the Laureano Ortega (Presidential advisor for the promotion of investments, trade and cooperation) made a few days ago: «Our Government through the negotiations with its sister Russian Federation, institutes and ministries, is beginning the testing stages for the production of a vaccine against Coronavirus here in Nicaragua".
The MECHNIKOV Institute is already receiving raw material from Russia to start laboratory tests at its facilities, which would be the first step to start the production of the vaccine.
All the production process will be carried out in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices and General Norms for the manufacture of medicines of the European Pharmacopoeia. Immunization will cover not only the Nicaraguan population, but in the near future also the sister countries of the Central American region and other Latin American countries.
The Russian Ambassador to Nicaragua, Alexander Khokhólikov also underlined the importance of launching this new production at the MECHNIKOV Institute, considering it an important stage in the fight against COVID-19: “The increase in it's capacities will allow the production of several million doses of this drug for the good of the Nicaraguan population. Russian vaccines and technologies are the result of the hard work of generations of our scientists, which now allows us to move forward and counter the challenges of the new reality, "said the Ambassador.