Studies for the development of the Brazilian schistosomiasis vaccine, known as the Sm14 vaccine, drew praise for researcher Miriam Tendler of the Experimental Schistosomiasis Laboratory of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC/FIOCRUZ), coordinator of the research, during an event held by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day in late April. Representatives from various institutions discussed the relevance of intellectual property for promoting innovation and creativity.
Developed and patented by the IOC, the Sm14 vaccine was produced from an antigen – a molecule that stimulates the production of antibodies, preventing the parasite that causes the disease from taking hold in the body or causing harm. The antigen used was the Sm14 protein, synthesized from Schistosoma mansoni, the parasite that causes schistosomiasis in Latin America and Africa.
The project is currently in phase II clinical studies in a hyper-endemic region of Senegal, in Africa, affected simultaneously by two species of Schistosoma, which causes the disease. The vaccine is one of the priority health research and development projects of the World Health Organization (WHO), aimed at guaranteeing access by the population in poor countries to collective health tools with last-generation technology.
FIOTEC support
FIOTEC has supported IOC in this innovation since the beginning of the vaccine’s development. Tendler sees the partnership as crucial for the project’s feasibility in Brazil. “FIOTEC is hugely important. Without FIOTEC, we wouldn’t be able to develop the vaccine, since we wouldn’t have the means to administer and manage the funds coming from abroad,” said the researcher. The partnership and the vaccine were featured in the 7th edition of the FIOTEC-FIOCRUZ Connection.
