Cuba and China expand cooperation in biotechnology

Havana, Nov 4 (RHC) Cuba and China signed cooperation agreements in the biotechnology area this Saturday, in the context of the visit to the Asian country by the island's prime minister, Manuel Marrero.

Both parties signed two technology transfer agreements between Cuba’s Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and the mixed company Changchun Heber Biological Technology.

In addition, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the creation of a joint business venture between HubeiC&C Pharmaceutical and Dalmer.

Prior to the signing, the Cuban prime minister highlighted the great bilateral development in biotechnology with joint companies that show concrete research which has benefited both peoples during the last 20 years.

Pedro Valdés, director of the China-Cuba Joint Neurotechnology Laboratory in the city of Chengdu, highlighted the achievements of bilateral cooperation in that area. He emphasized that there are many examples of Chinese technological developments that have supported Cuban public health, but there are also Cuban products such as monoclonal antibodies that have contributed in China to the treatment of brain and lung cancers.

Previously, the director of the Sino-Cuban joint venture Biotech Pharma (BPL), Bai Xianhong, praised the biotechnological cooperation between the two countries, as well as its positive impact on China.

Bai thanked the island's experts for their contributions in the approval process, by the Chinese National Drug Administration, of the humanized monoclonal antibody Nimotuzumab for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

He stressed that Nimotuzumab was the first product marketed by BPL and the first humanized monoclonal antibody in China since 2008, with very positive results in the fight against nasopharyngeal cancer.

Yanet Borrego, deputy general director and representative of the Cuban vice presidency of BPL, explained that this decision by the National Medicines Administration supports the results of years of work.

She pointed out that this helps consolidate the presence of Cuban biotechnology products in the Chinese market and the aspiration to reach other places where there are also access opportunities. (Source: PL)