TEHRAN – Seven articles on different stages of development and clinical trials of the Iranian-Cuban coronavirus vaccine have been published in prestigious international journals.

Developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute, the vaccine is called Soberana 02 in Cuba and Pastu Covac in Iran.

Preclinical stages (1 article), phase one and two of clinical trials (2 articles), and phase three of the human trials conducted in Cuba (1 article). Also, two articles have been published on the development technology of this vaccine.

The results of the study on the use of Soberana Plus (Pastu Covac Plus) as a single dose vaccine in people previously infected are also available as the seventh article in the form of a preprint.

The results of the phase three study of this vaccine showed that in volunteers who have not yet been infected and received 2 or 3 doses, about 87 to 99 percent of people, respectively, have seen a fourfold increase in antibody.

The vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in people inoculated with three doses by 65 percent and its effectiveness in the prevention of severe disease and hospitalization was 96.5 percent.

It is a conjugate vaccine with two injectable doses, which consists of the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein conjugated chemically to tetanus toxoid.

Pastu Covac is the only homegrown vaccine available for injection in children aged 2-18.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said five coronavirus vaccines have been so far produced domestically.

Iran is one of the few countries that has all vaccine production platforms, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said in June 2021.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain said in September 2021 that the Organization was collecting the necessary information for the registration and certification of Iranian-made coronavirus vaccines.

FB/MG