“I have great confidence in the productive capacity and quality of that plant since it is already the third one,” Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro said at the inauguration ceremony of that facility on December 3, 1993.
The IFV, a center for research, development, and production of vaccines, was founded in 1991, after a group of Cuban scientists presented a vaccine against meningitis (Neisseria meningitidis), whose trade name is VA-MENGOC-BC®.
The vaccine’s introduction had a notable impact by eliminating the epidemic that affected children and adolescents mainly.
The institution was named, as a tribute, after the prominent Cuban scientist Dr. Carlos J. Finlay, who was born in Camagüey province. He proved that a biological agent that transmits yellow fever spreads the disease from a sick person to a healthy one. The production of the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines and the vaccine candidate Soberana 01 to fight the Covid-19 pandemic stand out among the IFV’s leading contributions over the last two years. Other vaccines have been developed to support the Institute’s scientific value throughout its history.
IFV Deputy Director for Industrial Operations Roselyn Martínez told Prensa Latina that the scientific institution already has six production plants that can obtain polysaccharides through chemical synthesis and whole-cell components.
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