TEHRAN – Iran started on Monday the third phase of the human trial of the Soberana-02 coronavirus vaccine, jointly developed with Cuba.

Manufactured by Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute and Pasteur Institute of Iran, the vaccine is a conjugate vaccine with two injectable doses. It consists of the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein conjugated chemically to tetanus toxoid, IRIB reported.

The two first phases of the human trial have been conducted in Cuba, while the third phase will be performed on a population of 24,000 people aging 18 to 80 years in seven provinces and eight cities across the country.

The Soberana-02 is one of the most successful vaccines in the world with few side effects; the quality control of this vaccine is done in Iran, Alireza Biglari, director of the Pasture Institute of Iran, said.

The vaccine is to be produced jointly with Cuba after vaccinating 50,000 Iranians, and it is forecasted to be available for the public by early June amounting to 2 million doses, he concluded.

Iran is currently producing vaccines jointly with three countries of Cuba, Russia, and Australia.

Domestic vaccines

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers, started the third phase of the human trial on Sunday by being administrated to 20,000 people.

Developed by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, the vaccine was unveiled on December 29, 2020, and started to be mass-produced on March 29.

The line will produce three million doses a month, a capacity that is expected to be boosted to up to 15 million doses per month by the end of the spring (June 20).

He went on to say that 11,500 people from Tehran and Karaj and the rest from four cities of Bushehr, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Shiraz will be vaccinated under phase three studies.

Meanwhile, a vaccine developed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (Razi Cov Pars) is expected to become the second Iranian-made vaccine to be administered among the population in early August; which started the clinical trial on February 27.

Iran has also started human trials of Fakhra vaccine, the third domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, named after nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (he was assassinated in late November near Tehran), that was unveiled and started the clinical trial on March 16.

“Osvid-19”, the fourth domestic vaccine produced by Osvah Pharmaceutical Company is also undergoing human trials, which will also be available in early September.

FB/MG