According to a tweet by the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV, in Spanish), which developed this vaccine, the publication addresses the advantages of using OMVs (Outer Membrane Vesicles) as adjuvants in protein subunit vaccines against this coronavirus, which causes the Covid-19 pandemic.

This institute tweeted that “Cuban science keeps on building scientific evidence of the Soberana vaccines. This recent article is about Soberana 01’s development and immunogenicity.”

Entitled “A Covid-19 vaccine candidate composed of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD dimer and Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane vesicles,” the Chemical Biology article reports that it was observed that, with Soberana 01, the formulation with OMVs triggers a greater neutralizing effect against RBD mutants in alarming SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the RBD triple mutant of the Beta one.

It also reported that the advantages of using OMVs as adjuvants in protein subunit vaccines against this virus were proven. The satisfactory results justify the continuation of the study with Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials with this vaccine candidate.

Cuba developed three Covid-19 vaccines (Soberana 02, Soberana Plus and Abdala) and two vaccine candidates: Soberana 01 and Mambisa, the latter to be administered nasally, developed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB, in Spanish), which also developed Abdala, the first vaccine created in Latin America to fight Covid-19.

pgh/aph/mem/cdg