MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine-developed Covid vax ready to move on to trial phase

The ARVAC Cecilia Grierson vaccine was named after the first Argentine female physician

Argentine researchers are about to complete de development of the “ARVAC Cecilia Grierson” Covid-19 vaccine, which is why volunteers are needed for the 2/3 trial phase, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The new drug is expected to be cleared by mid-2023.

Researcher Juliana Cassataro specified that at this stage the safety and immunogenicity of three ARVAC formulas will be evaluated, including a bivalent version against Omicron.

The scientist said in a radio interview that “if by May” it is possible to “finish with the recruitment of volunteers”, “the results will be available in June” and the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) “will be able to approve the vaccine”, which will then be purchased by the State.

The ARVAC Cecilia Grierson vaccine was named after the first Argentine female physician. It was developed through a joint initiative of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet), the National University of San Martín (Unsam), and the private laboratory Pablo Cassará.

According to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, the results of the first stage of the research showed that the ARVAC vaccine is safe and the preliminary values of immunological response are promising.

Argentina is now moving forward with the phase to generate the results to be submitted to Anmat for approval as a booster vaccine.

Phase 2/3 has two stages: in the first, which is ongoing, the vaccine is administered to 232 people and the second begins with the challenge of recruiting 1,782 people to apply the ARVAC formula.

The Argentine vaccine is designed to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the region and Cassataro added on Tuesday that the vaccine “provides a response against Omicron V1 and V5” and that, although “covid is changing”, there will be “the platform to modify it as happens with the flu vaccine”.

The head of the team in charge of the Argentine serum said that the creation of the vaccine was “a medium and long-term project and Argentina has had the resources to make it for a long time.”