MORBILLO, mumps, rabies, human papilloma. Vaccine production in Iran has a long and important tradition. Just think that the Pasteur Institute in the capital Tehran was founded in 1920. Scientists would never have imagined having to face, exactly 100 years later, the dramatic challenge launched by Sars-CoV-2. The country was among the first to be hit in 2020 and today is dealing with the fifth wave, dominated by Delta variant of the virus: 40 thousand cases every 24 hours, the highest number found so far. According to official data, more than 4.3 million people have been infected and 97,000 have died since the beginning of the pandemic Covid-19. Little is said about it, but experts say that theIran it remains one of the few nations in the Middle East capable of making vaccines. Ten are in development, two have already obtained authorization for emergency use: COVIran Barekat e Pasterurcovac.
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Give 18 million doses
On the subject, the British scientific weekly Nature interviewed Kayhan Azadmanesh, physician and biotechnologist, head of the virology research division at the Pasteur Institute and consultant to the Iranian government. The scientist tells how about 18 million doses have been administered in the country so far: 12 of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, 4 of Oxford-AstraZeneca, 1 of COVIran Barekat, made by the industrial group Shifa Pharmed based in Tehran. Without forgetting Sputnik V of Russia and Covaxin of India.
The daily administrations were over half a million, with about 17% of the population receiving at least the first dose. COVIran Barekat is an inactivated vaccine (based on a microorganism killed by heat or chemicals) now in Phase III clinical trials. Last June, it obtained authorization for emergency use from the health authorities, thanks to the finding of neutralizing antibodies in 93% of people. Pasteurcovac, also in phase III, is a recombinant protein vaccine made by the collaboration between the Cuban Finlay Institute of Havana (in Cuba it is known as Soberana O2) and the Iranian Pasteur Institute.
Two more vaccines
With his company, Humimmune Biotech, Azadmanesh is producing two other vaccine candidates: one uses the measles virus to introduce a gene that codes for either the Spike protein or the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein. The other uses Adenovirus 5, the same strategy as the second dose of Sputnik V. Both are still in the pre-clinical stage, but the doctor’s hope is to use them as a reminder early next year. And then there are the others, still in the early stages of development, which exploit the various technologies: from mRna to the adenoviral vector.
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US sanctions
Vaccination tradition that, however, clashes with the sanctions imposed by the United States, responsible for the difficult purchase of materials and equipment. “We cannot count on the help of the international community. The United States says that sanctions do not affect humanitarian activities, but when yours ability to transfer money is limited, it is difficult to buy drugs and medicines. And we have the technology to make vaccines, so why not use it? ”He explains Azadmanesh. For the doctor, this situation is also the cause of the lack of publicity of Iranian studies. Given the scarcity of funds, the researchers wait to disseminate their findings because they fear losing important partnerships. But the great challenge of the country remains that of immunizing a wider population group: before the pandemic, the production requirement of each vaccine was 3 million doses per year. There are now 170 of them. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also spoke, last week who urged the government to provide vaccines, both locally and by importing them from abroad.
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