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The vaccine against the syncytial virus was registered through Clarke, Modet & Co.

After ten years of work, the vaccine against the Syncytial Respiratory Virus (VRS) developed by the main professor of the School of Biological Sciences of Universidad Catolica (UC) and director of the Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy (IMII), Dr. Alexis Kalergis, is about to commence testing in humans, upon raising the USD 6 million which are necessary to carry out the last phase prior to commercialization. 

It is a pioneer antidote in the world, which could be the solution to one of the illnesses with one of the highest hospitalization and mortality rates in children under 2 years old, for whose treatment the Chilean state spends around $ 10,000 million annually. 

Kalergis contends that once the funds are obtained, tests will commence, since the doses are already certified by the Food and Drug Administration Agency of the USA for human use, after successful tests in animals, which have been published in high-profile journals such as the journal of the Science Academy of the USA. This could take three to four years. 

The vaccine already has patents granted in Chile, USA, Europe and recently in China, a list to which we must add the application currently being processed in India and the possible addition of countries in Africa. “China has been excellent news. We are talking of one of the largest markets in the world, which has the peculiarity of being very susceptible to infectious respiratory diseases; therefore, our vaccine would be greatly appreciated by that country’s health system “, he declared. 

For such purposes, work is already underway with the Transference and Development Directorate (Dirección de Transferencia y Desarrollo, DTD) of UC and law firm Clarke, Modet & Co to assess the commercial opportunities in this market, because although China abides by the USA’s FDA regulations, it also has certain peculiarities that could influence the licensing of the product.

Finally, the scientists stated that they seek to sensitize “the Ministry of Health and other public entities in order for them to commit the necessary funding to perform testing in humans, because VRS is a disease of strategic interest due to its high impact in society”, also commenting that they are open to partnering with pharmaceutical companies or working with private investors.

Soruce: Diario Financiero