Skip to main content
Cuban drug could save thousands of lives in coronavirus pandemic
Students, some wearing protective masks as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, hold up their right hands as they recite the national anthem, in Havana

CUBAN medicine could treat thousands of coronavirus patients as production of a “flagship” drug known to combat the disease is set to increase significantly, pharmaceutical bosses said at a press conference on Friday.

President of the BioCubaFarma group Eduardo Martinez explained that the socialist island has developed 22 drugs that are set to be used to contain the outbreak.

So far it is known that one of the drugs manufactured by Cuba, Interferon alfa-2b, has managed to effectively cure more than 1,500 patients from the coronavirus and is one of 30 drugs chosen by the Chinese National Health Commission to combat respiratory disease.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
VITAL TO THE COMMUNITY: Cuban doctor Daysi Luperon Loforte (right) help lift up patient Francesco Ascone at the Santa Maria degli Ungheresi Hospital of Polistena on June 16, 2026
Cuba health care / 9 July 2026
9 July 2026

PAOLO SANTALUCIA reports on how an Italian region defies US pressure to end a Cuban doctors programme

A LITANY OF PAIN: A four-year-old cancer patient, Nashly Zerquera, is examined by Dr Yolainy Romero Rodriguez at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology in Havana, Cuba, last Wednesday
Latin America / 4 July 2026
4 July 2026

Once a source of national pride, Cuba’s healthcare system declines as energy shortages deepen crisis, writes ANDREA RODRIGUEZ

People fill jugs with water in Havana, Cuba, June 12, 2026
Global Healthcare / 18 June 2026
18 June 2026

The US blockade of Cuba raises risks of a new global pandemic, experts warn at Unison conference

People sit along the edge of an abandoned swimming pool across from a tanker terminal along the port of Matanzas, Cuba, March 30, 2026
Features / 4 April 2026
4 April 2026

CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent