Abel Gonzalez Alayón

The CIGB-258, a peptide designed to reduce inflammatory processes, and the monoclonal antibody Itolizumab (Anti-CD6) have shown great effectiveness for the survival of critical and severe COVID-19 patients in Cuba, announced Friday Francisco Duran, national director of epidemiology at the ministry of public health.

At a press conference, the scientist reported that so far 52 patients have been treated with the CIGB-258, produced by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and that the survival rate of patients in critical condition was 78 percent, thanks to the inclusion of the treatment.

Meanwhile, in severe patients, 92 percent of those treated with the product have survived, which contrasts with the statistics of the world, where the average survival of the severe patient is 20 percent.

The renowned epidemiologist explained that the monoclonal antibody of the Center for Molecular Immunology, Anti-CD6, has also been applied to patients who are positive for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (1,916 in the country), and that 80 percent of the severe patients have successfully survived, many of them already on clinical discharge.

According to Duran, all of these drugs are approved by the Center for State Control of Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices, the regulatory body for applying new therapeutic modalities.

The expert also recalled that blood plasma from patients recovered from COVID-19 is also used in Cuba to save patients in serious condition.