With an investment of R$ 80 million, divided into R$ 50 million of federal resources, coming from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, and R$ 30 million from the government of Minas Gerais, the works of the MCTI National Vaccine Center, at the Belo Horizonte Technological Park (BH-TEC). As a result of a partnership signed in 2021 between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), the unit will function as an innovation hub (distribution center) for the production of pilot batches of immunizers in Brazil. The MCTI National Vaccine Center (CNVacinas MCTI) will have a constructed area of 6,000 square meters, spread over a five-story building. The L-shaped building will cover the entire scientific and vaccine development area, as well as animal facilities, sectors for the production of recombinant protein, genome analysis, bioinformatics and analysis of immunological responses. The work should be ready in 2025. The entire infrastructure will be geared towards the production of clinical batches, that is, CNVacinas MCTI will carry out all the development of the immunizer and deliver the technology so that the national industry can manufacture the immunizers on a large scale. Independence According to the Secretary for Research and Scientific Training at the MCTI, Marcelo Morales, the National Vaccine Center is part of the Ministry’s strategy to bring to light the new perspective of Brazil’s independence in active pharmaceutical ingredients. Morales said that the project meets a Brazilian demand to establish an ecosystem that contemplates health regulations, with traceability. Throughout the actions to combat the covid-19 pandemic, the ministry considered that the absence, in Brazil, of plants capable of producing pilot batches of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) under conditions of good manufacturing practices was a bottleneck for the research, development and innovation, as well as for carrying out the subsequent filling of experimental vaccine formulations. These aspects need to be met in order to comply with the requirements of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) regarding clinical trials on human beings. Morales stated that this gap will be closed. “We are going to produce pilot batches for all vaccines, such as dengue and yellow fever, among others, like what we are doing for the vaccine against monkeypox. And then we deliver it to companies, such as Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz and Butantan, to carry out the scheduling”, explained the secretary. The Dean of UFMG, Sandra Regina Goulart Almeida, said that the National Vaccine Center MCTI will be another research center in Brazil in vaccine production. “And that helps us in the sense that we need to become self-sustaining. It’s an important moment, not just about the diseases that are out there, but also about what might come in the future.” Sandra believes that the results will guarantee better living conditions for the population, positive contributions to public health policy, in addition to making the country more sustainable and sovereign in the production of vaccines. Mission The mission of CNVacinas MCTI will be to accelerate the development of vaccines, immunobiologicals and diagnostic tests for human and veterinary diseases within the one health concept, contributing to the Unified Health System (SUS) and to the socioeconomic development of Brazil . Researchers who work with the development of immunizers throughout the national territory will be able to use the structure. The space will also be a link between the academic environment and the market, serving as a catalyst for the process of innovation and technology transfer for companies and institutions. It will also function as a platform for the emergence of spin-offs (derived companies) that wish to commercialize the products developed. CNVacinas MCTI will also support research groups, institutions and companies by training professionals and providing services, ensuring sustainability. For the coordinator of CTVacinas UFMG, Ricardo Gazzinelli, Brazil has an almost complete vaccine ecosystem. “There are institutions that carry out proof of concept, there are very good groups that carry out clinical trials, we have factories that produce vaccines and the SUS, which distributes them very widely. However, we didn’t have the innovation part, which goes from the proof of concept to the clinical trial. It is our niche, where we intend to operate”, said Gazzinelli. “We are going to leave the legacy of an institution that operates at the national level in partnership with universities, research institutes and the private sector, facilitating this area that is so important for the area of vaccines and biotechnology”, he added. CTVacinas is a biotechnology research center, the result of a partnership established between UFMG, the René Rachou Institute of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz-Minas) and BH-TEC. The center brings together researchers linked to UFMG and Fiocruz-Minas and is responsible for the development of SpiN-TEC MCTI UFMG, the first 100% Brazilian vaccine against covid-19, whose clinical trials began last month at the Faculdade de Medicina da UFMG.
Agência Brasil
Folha Nobre - Desde 2013 - ©