New York, 3 March 2021. The biopharmaceutical industry, a strategic sector of the Cuban economy, is affected every year in terms of research, development, production and commercialization of its products as a result of the blockade, which leads to considerable economic losses.
Between April 2019 and March 2020, damages are estimated in approximately 161 million dollars. The tightening of the blockade policy during this period not only limited academic and scientific exchange, but also deprived the US people of receiving the benefits of biotechnological and pharmaceutical products of international renown developed in Cuba.
In this regard, the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB, by its Spanish initials), reported lost revenues because of not being able to export Heberprot-P to the United States, a medication that is unique in the world for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Under the assumption that only 8 percent of US patients who develop a complex DFU each year use this medication, Cuba would have received approximately $114,912,000 in this respect in 2019.
This sector has also been significantly affected by additional expenses derived from the geographic relocation of trade and the necessity to resort to intermediaries to purchase US-origin products, as evidenced in the following example:
The Finlay Institute of Vaccines reported a total of 15 transactions carried out during the period analyzed, where it was necessary to import US-origin goods through third country suppliers. The total amount of transactions was $894,693. If these operations had been carried out through a US company, the Cuban entity would have saved approximately $178,938.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations
