ButanVac, announced by Butantan as the first immunizing potential against a 100% national Covid-19, was developed at the Icahn School of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Institute in New York.
Butantan's director, Dimas Covas, told Folha that the Brazilian agency is responsible for the entire development of the drug, through partnerships and with an international consortium, and that Mount Sinai provided the viral vector.
According to Peter Palese, a researcher at the hospital, Mount Sinai was also responsible for the tests on animals in the laboratory, which precedes the tests on humans.
In a note, Butantan contested the statements, given by Palese via corporate email. He also said that he had a license to use American technology but that the inputs and the final product will be national.
"In Brazil, the developer of the vaccine is Butantan. The vaccine, therefore, is Brazilian and Brazilian."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon