Science Minister welcomes Sinovac laboratory delegation to discuss project to install vaccine plant in Chile
During the meeting, Minister Couve praised the participation of Chile’s scientific community in conducting CoronaVac clinical trials. He also emphasized that this experience opens up opportunities for R+D investment and capacity installation, as well as vaccine manufacture for COVID-19 and other diseases.
Science Minister Andrés Couve chaired a meeting this morning with a visiting team of Sinovac executives and scientists to discuss the Chinese laboratory’s project to install a vaccine plant in Chile. The meeting was held at the Science Ministry’s new offices.
Among those who participated in the meeting, alongside their advisory teams, were Sinovac Senior Director Weining Meng, InvestChile Managing Director Andrés Rodríguez and Universidad Católica associate professor and director of the Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Alexis Kalergis.
“Today, we have learnt about the progress that the Sinovac delegation has made alongside Chilean scientists in the CoronaVac clinical trials. This work has been exemplary; through the collaboration of the State, universities and international laboratories, trade deals have been agreed for more than 18.6 million vaccine doses for our vaccination campaign. This has brought excellent results in protecting our population and has consistently provided valuable evidence for decision making,” Minister Couve stated.
The science minister also highlighted the possibility of undertaking a CoronaVac clinical trial in children and young people between the ages of 3 and 17, as well as carrying out studies to evaluate giving booster doses. Furthermore, he praised the transparency with which Chilean scientists have made their results available to the international research community.
“Having carried out COVID-19 clinical trials with different laboratories, we need to think ahead once more and consider how Chile will take part in R+D and vaccine manufacture for this and future emergencies, thus strengthening our scientific community’s networks of international collaboration. In this regard, Sinovac’s proposal to install a CoronaVac fill and finish plant in Chile is an important step in having installed capacities of cutting-edge technologies in the near future,” Minister Couve added.
Dr. Alexis Kalergis pointed out that “thanks to the vaccine development that we have carried out in Chile over the past years, we have established collaborations with many teams of vaccine experts in countries around the world. These scientific collaborations have helped us get closer to COVID-19 vaccine developers so that Chile can access vaccines and obtain enough doses through international collaboration. Given the severity of the pandemic, the world’s scientific community, including Chile, is working hard to combat the virus. This is why it’s so important to establish formal collaborations and promote the simultaneous development of a large number of scientific initiatives to produce vaccines.”
InvestChile Managing Director Andrés Rodríguez concluded, “the Science Ministry is carrying out a key role in attracting investment and developing research. (…) At InvestChile, we’re helping to create a R+D hub to support knowledge transfer and generate employment.”
Science Ministry formalizes the scientific advisory council to accelerate Sars CoV-2 genomic surveillance
At the meeting with the Sinovac laboratory delegation, Minister Couve celebrated the establishment of the Ministry’s Scientific Advisory Committee for the Establishment of a COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance System.
As the minister explained, a group of 15 experts from the public sector and eight universities with a recognized track record in genomic research will advise the minister on the work undertaken by the laboratory network to sequence the Sars-CoV-2 genome.
“In addition to leveraging the acceleration plan for the screening and follow-up of Covid-19 variants that is already supporting the ISP’s work, this group of experts is helping to make data available on national and international platforms (e.g. GISAID); furthermore, they are promoting analysis of this information and coordinating the integration of sequencing capabilities in university laboratories from Antofagasta to Punta Arenas,” Minister Couve stated.
This committee, established by the Science Ministry, includes not only the Regional Ministerial Secretaries for Science and representatives of the Public Health Undersecretary’s Office and ISP, but also experts from CoV2 Genomics Consortium, the Chilean Genetics Society, Universidad de Chile, Universidad Católica, Universidad de Santiago, UNAB, UDD, UACH, UMAG and U. de Antofagasta.