BNDES invests in vaccine against covid-19 developed by Fiocruz

The development of an innovative vaccine against Covid-19, which uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) will receive R$30 million non-refundable from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), in addition investment of R$21 million raised from private partners.

The Foundation for Scientific and Technological Development in Health (Fiotec), which provides logistical, administrative and financial management support services for projects developed by Fiocruz, is responsible for creating the new vaccine.

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The resources used by BNDES correspond to the completion of the experimental development of the immunizer, the production of pilot batches for clinical trials and the carrying out of Phase 1 clinical studies. In this first stage, the project seeks to demonstrate the safety of using the immunizer in humans. “Fiocruz’s expectation is that the vaccine will be available in the Unified Health System within 3 years”, informed the BNDES in a note published on the bank’s website.

According to the institution, its resources originate from the Scientific Technical Development Fund (BNDES Funtec), which offers “non-refundable financial support to applied research, technological development and innovation projects carried out by technological institutions, according to the focus of performance defined by the bank”. The good performance of the vaccine in clinical studies, which will validate the mRNA technology developed by Fiocruz, will determine the prospect of developing other vaccines by the foundation.

For the superintendent of the Productive Development, Innovation and Foreign Trade Area at BNDES, João Paulo Pieroni, the technological platform developed by Fiocruz is an important achievement for the Brazilian health system, “as it makes the country more prepared to face future public health emergencies, with more autonomy and faster development of new vaccines”.

mRNA

The BNDES highlights that mRNA technology is considered a revolution in medicine, because its effectiveness in combating Covid-19 has been proven and is still a potentially safer, faster and more efficient technology for the development of new vaccines and treatments. “Unlike traditional vaccines, which use inactivated viruses (such as the flu vaccine) or attenuated viruses (such as the measles vaccine), mRNA vaccines provide a genetic 'instruction' for the immune system to produce antibodies”, pointed out the BNDES in the note.

In the assessment of Fiocruz's scientific leader and project manager, Patrícia Cristina Neves, the main advantage of vaccines using this type of technology is that they are productive. “The traditional vaccine, for measles for example, carries the live virus, only weaker. To obtain the weakened virus, a more expensive and more difficult production system is required, which also demands greater biosecurity to contain the agent.”

In the covid-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines teach the human body how to fight the coronavirus, by simulating the same process of exposure to the virus, but without causing the disease. The result is that the agent does not need to be grown in the laboratory. Scientists only need to “decipher its genetic code to produce on an industrial scale”. With this performance, mRNA technology is globally considered the most appropriate solution to face public health emergencies.

The more affordable development cost and the high yield with the production of many doses per liter are other advantages of this technology. “Preliminary validation of the technology is expected, paving the way to provide the Unified Health System (SUS) with a lower-cost vaccine. Furthermore, from it it will be possible to develop new vaccines and medicines”, added the BNDES.

According to the director of Productive Development, Innovation and Foreign Trade at BNDES, José Luis Gordon, the institution assumes that investment in Fiocruz's mRNA vaccine contributes to increasing Brazil's autonomy in the health sector. “Today there is a global race to incorporate mRNA into vaccine production, very concentrated in the United States, China, Germany and Denmark,” he highlighted.

Production

The expectation is that the vaccine to be produced at the BioManguinhos/Fiocruz Institute of Immunobiological Technology will transform the foundation into the main center for the development and production of mRNA vaccines in Latin America.

In the view of Fiocruz's general fundraising coordinator, Luis Donadio, as a strategic project for the country, the main gain is technological mastery for production. “That’s where the real added value of the mRNA vaccine lies. Mastering a technology at the frontier of knowledge is something rare in Brazil”, he highlighted, adding that there is also an agreement between Fiocruz and the World Health Organization (WHO) to transfer the technology for producing the vaccine against Covid-19 to countries in America. Latin and Caribbean.

The BNDES also informed that the researchers responsible for developing the mRNA platform at Fiocruz are already analyzing the possibility of its application in preventive vaccines for other diseases. In this case, scientists consider that the immunizer could be used against rabies, influenza, Zika, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, cytomegalovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV – bronchiolitis) and in therapeutic applications for treating cancer, rare genetic diseases, allergies and autoimmune diseases.