The Cuban government inaugurated this Monday the CIGB-Mariel Biotechnological Industrial Complex, a plant that will develop nationally produced drugs such as the Abdala vaccine, or the drugs Jusvinza, Heberprot-P and Heberferon.
Located in the Mariel Special Development Zone, in the western province of Artemisa, it is the first high-tech industry established in that area. In addition, it represents the most modern complex of its kind in Cuba, according to official press reports, which do not detail installation costs.
The ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel and Army General Raúl Castro, among other figures from the Castro leadership, participated in the inauguration. The plant is the product of collaboration between the BioCubaFarma Group and the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB). Its construction took almost five years (57 months).
“The Complex will research, develop and produce novel vaccines and drugs for the treatment of diseases that constitute the main health problems in Cuba and the world,” said Díaz-Canel.
The president said that the center is also one of the most advanced of its kind in the region. Eduardo Martínez, president of the BioCubaFarma Group, assured that the institution was created thanks to the “innovative thinking” of the late dictator Fidel Castro.
Cuba has exported millions of doses of the Abdala vaccine to countries allied with the Havana regime, an activity that began in the midst of the most lethal outbreak that the Island has suffered since the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020.
Cuban authorities assure that a high percent of the population has been vaccinated with national products against COVID-19. The official numbers of infections and deaths have decreased considerably in recent weeks, as the reopening of borders in the country approaches, in a government attempt to encourage foreign tourism.
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