MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil eager to develop large-scale production of mpox vax

The Brazilian vaccine is made up of an attenuated version of a virus similar to the one causing mpox

Brazil's newly-formed monkeypox emergency committee underlined this week that one of its main goals was to develop a vaccine as one of its leading strategies with which to fight the malady the World Health Organization (WHO) last week deemed a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), Agencia Brasil reported.

Although still in its study phase for large‑scale production, the Federal University of Minas Gerais' (UFMG) Vaccine Technology Center has been developing an immunizer to prevent the infection since the first global emergency two years ago,

Brazil's Science Ministry said in a statement that the initiative was one of the priorities of the Virus Network, a committee of virology experts created to develop diagnostic methods, treatments, vaccines, and content on emerging viruses in South America's largest country. So far 709 cases of monkeypox have been detected in Brazil, although none of them belonged to the newer, more serious variant.

In 2022, the UFMG received a donation from the US National Institute of Health of material known as the mpox virus seed, a kind of starting point for the development of the active pharmaceutical ingredient of the shot. “The research is currently in its the study phase for increasing production, as we verify whether we can obtain the raw material to meet the demand on a large scale,” the ministry's document also noted.

The Brazilian development is said to be composed of a virus similar to the mpox virus, attenuated via a number of transitions through a different host, until it completely loses its ability to multiply in mammalian hosts, such as humans.

According to the WHO, there are currently two vaccines available against mpox. One of them, Jynneos, produced by Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic, is also made up of the attenuated virus and is recommended for adults, including pregnant women, nursing mothers, and people with HIV.

The second drug available is called ACAM 2000. It is produced by the US pharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions, but it has several contraindications, as well as more side effects, since it is made up of the active virus, which renders it “less safe,” as per the Brazilian ministry’s assessment.

After the WHO declared mpox a global emergency last week, Brazil's Health Ministry announced it was negotiating the purchase of 25,000 doses of Jynneos from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Since 2023, when Brazil’s drug watchdog Anvisa approved the provisional use of the jab, Brazil has received around 47 thousand doses of the vaccine and applied 29 thousand of them.