In an interview with Dr. Kayhan Azadmanesh, Head of the Virology Research Department at the Pasteur Institute, a British scientific weekly wrote: Iran hopes to defeat Covid 19 with the help of domestically produced vaccines.
Iran was one of the first countries to face the Covid 19 epidemic in early 2020, and is now battling a fifth wave of the disease, possibly from the Delta.
According to official figures, more than 4.3 million people have been infected with the disease since the corona epidemic, and 97,000 people have died from it. However, the publication claims that the real statistics are much higher.
The British publication said: “Iran is one of the few countries in the Middle East that has the capacity to produce vaccines”. About 10 vaccines are in production and the vaccination process of one type is underway, but little information about these vaccines is available outside of Iran.
Nature goes on to point out that he has spoken to Dr. Kayhan Azadmanesh, head of the virology research department at the Pasteur Institute of Iran, about this internal vaccine.
According to the journal, in addition to the above, Azadmanesh also provides advice to the public sector and is developing two viral vaccines through his company, Home Safe Biotechnology.
Azadmanesh in response to the question of how much the Corona epidemic has affected Iran? said: As of January 2020, we had five separate corona waves. We are currently facing the most cases of new mutations, which are about 40,000 cases per day, with the delta mutation being the most common mutation.
Stating that “Many more are unlikely to be reported,” he said: The epidemic is putting pressure on hospitals and the situation does not look good.
Head of Virology Research Department, Pasteur Institute, in response to the question “Which of the Covid-19 vaccines are available in Iran?” said: About 18 million doses of vaccine have been injected so far, of which about 12 million Chinese Sinofarm vaccines, 4 million Astrazenka Oxford vaccines and 1 million Cova Iran Barakat vaccines developed by Shafafarmad Industries Group in Tehran have been injected. Injectable vaccines include Russia’s Sputnik vaccine and India’s Kovacsine vaccine.
According to him, more than half a million doses of vaccine are injected daily, and about 17% of Iran’s 85 million population have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
Azadmanesh said about Iran Koo Barakat vaccine: The vaccine is an inactivated vaccine and is still in a phase three clinical trial, but received emergency use permission in June. The vaccine has been approved because it builds up levels of antibodies, such as those that can neutralize the Coronavirus 2 or prevent it from entering cells.
Stating that “In initial experiments, researchers found that more than 93 percent of vaccinated people produce neutralizing antibodies,” he said: We do not know how long the vaccine will last, but I think it will be similar to other inactivated vaccines, such as the Chinese company Sinovac Life Sciences. Because that vaccine lowers the body’s antibody levels after 6 months, which indicates that boosters may be needed.
The head of the virology research department of the Pasteur Institute said about other vaccines that are being developed in Iran: Pasteur Kovac is a recombinant protein vaccine developed by the Pasteur Institute of Iran in collaboration with the Cuban Finlay Vaccine Institute in Havana. This vaccine is known in Cuba as Soberana 02. Although the vaccine is in a phase three clinical trial, it received an emergency use permit in Iran in June.
According to him, there are several inactivated vaccines and recombinant protein vaccines in clinical trials, and at least one messenger vaccine, two adenovirus vector vaccines and one measles vector vaccine are in the early stages of production.
Vaccines produced outside of Iran are currently undergoing clinical trials and are being produced domestically.
Azadmanesh commented on the vaccines he is designing: My Company (Home Safe Biotechnology Company) is working on two vaccines. One vaccine uses the measles virus as the basis for the introduction of a gene that encodes a nail protein, such as the coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome 2, which the virus uses to enter cells, or the nucleocapsid protein that the virus needs to multiply.
This vaccine is produced by the Iranian company Biosan Pharmed in Tehran. In another vaccine, which may be more promising, the adenovirus 5 base is used to deliver a portion of the nail-like protein, a process similar to the second dose base process of the sputnikov vaccine. He expressed hope that he would start clinical trials early next year.
The Iranian researcher added: Most of the Covid-19 vaccines that have been used in Iran so far have been inactivated vaccines, which I think means that people will need booster injections next year.
Azadmanesh stating that “Our vaccine can be used as a booster, and a combined approach may provide even better protection,” added: This technology can also be easily modified against a variety of new mutations. We have already started developing a vaccine for the delta mutation.
Asked why Iranian scientists have developed different vaccines, he said: We have a long history of producing vaccines in Iran. The Pasteur Institute of Iran was established in 1920 and produced vaccines against tuberculosis and rabies. Vaccines against measles, mumps and human papillomavirus have also been developed in Iran.
The head of the virology research department at the Pasteur Institute said: We cannot rely on the help of the international community in this epidemic, because we live under sanctions imposed by the United States, which we think are unfair.
He explained: The United States says sanctions do not affect humanitarian activities, but it can make it harder to buy medicine when your ability to transfer money is limited. After all, we have vaccine production technology, so why not use it? To ensure the safety of Iranian vaccines, it makes sense to create different vaccines using different R&D strategies, and this is what China has done.
Azadmanesh said of Iranian researchers’ reluctance to publish their work internationally: “This could be another effect of sanctions”.
Researchers in Iran may be reluctant to do so because of difficulties in cooperating before producing the final product and losing access to the raw materials and technology needed to produce the vaccine.
The Iranian scientist added: Our researchers are very busy and are trying to fight this epidemic in Iran. They may not have time to publish their findings in international journals.
Stating that some researchers have begun the process of sharing their results, he added: In June, researchers at the Iran Cove Vaccine Development Division released a pre-release version of their preclinical results, and will share their clinical results soon. We also plan to share the results of our vector adenovirus vaccine soon.
He spoke about Iran’s biggest challenge to developing the Covid-19 vaccine: Sanctions have created a lot of problems because they have made it difficult for us to buy materials and equipment. For example, the chromatographic resins we need to purify vaccines are mostly produced by multinational corporations that are primarily US suppliers; so they may be afraid to sell us those materials.
Azadmanesh said: The United States says we can apply for exemptions, but experience has shown that this does not work. But anyway, we find a way. We refine our methods, find other providers or look for other solutions. We are looking for the best we can get, but sometimes quality and performance are also affected.
In addition, one of the biggest global challenges is scale. Prior to the epidemic, Iran primarily had to produce only vaccines for children, and each vaccine required about three million doses per year, but now we need 170 million doses to fully vaccinate the entire Iranian population.
The head of the virology research department of the Pasteur Institute explained about the future of vaccine development in Iran: The researchers’ initial goal in developing the Corona Cow vaccine in Iran was to produce more than 30 million doses by September, which was enough to vaccinate the adult population, but they failed to achieve this goal; So we had to import several million more vaccines.
He added: As many have said, this is not the last Corona epidemic we are facing. I expect the vaccine production capacity to be used in the coming years to produce new vaccines and drugs, both for the coronavirus and other diseases.