Brazilian state and Russia to Cooperate on Coronavirus Vaccine

HAVANA TIMES – The Brazilian state of Parana on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia to cooperate on the development of a novel coronavirus vaccine, Brazilian media reported.

The governments of Russia and Parana may now work together to test and produce the Sputnik V vaccine, while a technology transfer will be negotiated.

Moscow’s Tuesday announcement that it was the first country to register a vaccine drew skepticism over the speed of its regulatory approval, and because Russia has not shared data from large-scale clinical trials.

But a working group will now be formed to allow Moscow to share the results of phase 1 and 2 trials of the vaccine with Parana and with the Brazilian government.

Jorge Callado, the president of the technology institute Tecpar in Curitiba, said a phase 3 trial might be conducted in Parana to test the vaccine on a large number of people.

The testing and use of the vaccine must comply with regulations from Brazil’s health watchdog Anvisa.

South America’s most populous country has recorded more than 3.1 million novel coronavirus infections and over 103,000 deaths, the most in the world after the United States.