The vaccine, called Vaccine COVID-19 (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant]), is manufactured by the Argentine company mAbxience, which reproduces its active pharmaceutical ingredient, and the Mexican company Laboratorios Liomont, which formulates, fills and packages the product for distribution.

This AstraZeneca manufactured vaccine is already used in some Latin American and Caribbean countries but its inclusion in the WHO list paves the way for its approval and commercialization in other countries, and allows its acquisition and distribution through PAHO's Revolving Fund and the Covax global mechanism, the international mechanism to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

The inclusion of this vaccine on the WHO emergency use list is an important milestone for Latin America and highlights the importance of technology transfer to increase the availability of COVID-19 vaccines in the region and contributes to their global supply.

On the other hand, other COVID-19 vaccines have been created in Latin America but have not yet been officially recognized by WHO, such as the three COVID-19 vaccines produced in Cuba, the Abdala vaccine, created by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana, and Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus, designed by the Finlay Institute.

Nevertheless, according to author Ortiz-Prado et al., there are unapproved and even illegal sale and use of biologicals, biosimilars and related products, with or without approved therapeutic indications in the treatment of COVID-19 in Ecuador [1].

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Reference
1. Ortiz-Prado et al. Biotechnological therapies and biosimilars for COVID-19: scarcities, poor regulation, and pharmaceutical black market: a case analysis in Ecuador. Generics and Biosimilars Initiative Journal (GaBI Journal). 2021;10(4):184-92. doi:10.5639/gabij.2021.1004.023

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