Butanvac, the candidate vaccine announced by the Butantan Institute as the first 100% national immunizer, was developed in the USA, at the Icahn Medical School of the Mount Sinai Institute, according to the statement provided by the institution to Folha.
The information, provided to the report by the director and professor of the institute's microbiology department, Peter Palese, also appears in a study published in December 2020 signed by researchers from Mount Sinai and from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, at Chapel Hill.
"We have successfully conducted experiments with our vaccine based on the Newcastle disease virus [NVD, a type of bird flu]. In the meantime, we have started phase 1 tests in Vietnam and Thailand with our new (improved) generation of Covid vaccine. We are conducting a phase 1 test here at Mount Sinai, "wrote the director in an email.
"Yes, we also have an agreement with the Butantan Institute to enter clinical trials in Brazil using our NVD vaccine vector. We are also developing vaccines for Covid-19 variants based on the South African and Brazilian versions for the Butantan Institute."
Approached by Folha, the director of Butantan, Dimas Covas, stated that "Butantan is in charge of the full development of the vaccine, supported by partnerships we have and by an international consortium". Mount Sinai, as he explained, was reportedly sought out by Butantan to supply the vaccine vector.
Translated by Cassy Dias