The Center for Isotopes (CENTIS), attached to Cuba’s Nuclear Energy and Advanced Technologies Agency (AENTA), and the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency (ABEN) consolidated the agreement that will allow the development of biotechnological components that are not made in Latin America.
CENTIS Director René Leyva told Prensa Latina that with more than 30 years of experience in radiopharmaceuticals in the institution, this alliance will allow “uniting Cuba’s experience with innovative Bolivian production capacities in order to develop promising products in the fight against cancer.”
ABEN General Director Hortensia Jiménez, in turn, said that the agreement with CENTIS is based on a concept of scientific and technological complementarity, which also aims to bring Bolivian professionals closer to the knowledge generated by Cuba in terms of radiopharmacy, radioisotopes and the application of nuclear energy in health.
“Cuba is an example of struggle, of scientific sovereignty for all Latin Americans and for us it is very exciting to see how they advance, despite the obstacles, in pursuit of the people’s well-being; we find synergies with CENTIS to cooperate in radiopharmaceutical research, production and clinical and preclinical areas for theranostics.”
In nuclear medicine, theranostics refers to the use of specific molecules (peptides, agonists, antagonists, amino acids, analogues, etc.) that are marked with a specific radionuclide to diagnose and treat a disease.
Jiménez also noted that CENTIS has a great development in terms of biotechnology and Bolivia already has the capacity to produce high-energy radioisotopes and “there we have joint work to develop components that are not made in Latin America.”
“We have been working on large projects in the nuclear sector: one in the network of nuclear energy and radiotherapy centers for cancer and other pathologies; the nuclear research center where we put the cyclotron for preclinical radiopharmacy into operation, in addition to a gamma irradiation center for agriculture and we are still in the construction of the nuclear research reactor,” the Bolivian expert explained.
The Cyclotron Complex, installed in the city of El Alto, more than 4,000 meters above sea level, began the production of radiopharmaceuticals in 2023 for the highly specialized diagnosis of cancer and neurological and cardiological pathologies.
With all this capacity, Jiménez said, the three centers have the diagnostic part for cancer, linear accelerators, brachytherapy that allow patients to access this technology free of charge, based on the unique health system implemented in Bolivia and we have also stopped importing radiopharmaceuticals to start producing them in the country.
She stressed that Bolivia has incorporated nuclear technology as a development tool for the nation.
On Sunday, Cuban Ambassador to Bolivia Elba Rosa Pérez, told Prensa Latina exclusively that the health of both countries will benefit from the signing of an Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreement between these institutions.
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