[Type the company name] | Cuban Revolutionary Lung Cancer Vaccine |

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Introduction
Every year many people of different ages suffer and die worldwide from different types of cancers. An estimate made by the American Cancer society states that, in the US alone, in 2014 cancer killed 585,720 and lung cancer was responsible of 159,260 deaths (Deadliest Cancer Coalition, 2014). Lung cancer has become the leading killer cancer and finding better ways to treat it has become a priority for many researchers. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2014.
Depending on the type of lung cancer and how far it has spread, doctors have been using several ways to treat this disease. The cures that have been performed in the U.S. so far include surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, or a combination of these treatments. Nevertheless, after America has now decided to stabilize its relations with Cuba it can soon be introduced to a new type of lung cancer treatment called CimaVax.
Cimavax
Cimavax is a Cuban therapeutic anticancer vaccine developed to treat patients with tumors that grow faster due to a protein that encourages cell growth. In a healthy body epidermal growth factor (EGF) sends signals to cells that allow them to grow and divide by attaching to the receptors on the cell’s surface. However, in some cases, such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), cells divide uncontrollably due to the excessive EGF production. Therefore, CimaVax works by stimulating the immune response to make antibodies that are specifically targeted for EGF and are able to bind and stop it from attaching to the receptors on cancer cells. This means there is no signal telling the cancer cells to grow and divide and thus the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells is slowed down. The vaccine is usually ordered after chemotherapy and radiotherapy has already been given (CIMAVAX-EGF for Non-Small, 2014).
An additional benefit of CimaVax and what makes it an important lung cancer treatment is its ability to increase the overall survival with very minimum toxicity. After performing several small trials using the vaccine, the Cancer Research UK concluded that CimaVax helps lung cancer patients live an average of four to six months longer than those who did not take or follow-up the medication (Dovey, 2015). The vaccine also decreases symptoms like coughing, breathing difficulties, and improves the overall quality of life for lung cancer patients. Side effects that may result from the medication are minor and some of them include chills, fever and nausea.
Another advantage of CimaVax is that it is relatively cheap to produce and to store. Even though each shot costs about $1, the Cuban government has been offering the medicine, which must be taken one shot every month, for free to its patients (Smith, 2015). It may be obvious that the vaccine will not be distributed for free in America due to a completely different health and marketing system, but its low production and storage costs could help reduce the price of CimaVax.
CimaVax in the US
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, which is a research group based in Buffalo, made a deal with a Cuban biotechnology institute to bring CimaVax to the United States. In return, a U.S. company that specializes in enterprise software development will provide healthcare software to a university in Havana. Since EGF plays an important role in other types of cancers, such as breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer, Roswell Park Cancer Institute experts believe that further research on Cimavax could lead to the development of other vaccines for different kinds of cancers. In addition, they plan to discover methods that can make CimaVax similar to a traditional vaccine that can function as a preventative intervention (Patel, 2015). Nevertheless, the organization must initially follow several procedures in order to obtain FDA’s approval that will allow it to sell the drug in America.
Cuba VS US The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that is responsible for assuring the safety, efficiency, and quality of drugs and vaccines. In America a drug must first be evaluated by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), which is a division of the FDA, before it gets approved for sale. This means that the department must make sure that the medicine been evaluated works properly and that its health benefits are greater than its identified risks. A company or a sponsor that is introducing the new drug initially performs a laboratory and animal tests to determine the safety and the effectiveness of the drug in humans. Once this step is successfully completed, several tests are implemented in people to confirm that the drug is safe when used to treat a disease and whether it provides a real health benefit. Finally, results of the tests that prove the safety and the effectiveness of the treatment are sent to the CDER. After a group of experts at CDER reviews the submitted evidence and ensures that the medicine's health benefits surpass its known risks, the drug can then be sold around the US (Development & Approval Process (Drugs), 2014). Similar to U.S.’s system, Cuba’s medical and biotechnology products, even though all drug distribution channels are owned by the government, are subject to clinical tests before authorization and marketing both in Cuba and in foreign countries. A new drug must first go through a development and an examination phase performed on animals, known as preclinical evaluation, and then through an evaluation in human subjects, clinical evaluation. Due to the strict requirements for approval of drugs and biotechnology products, particularly in developed countries, Cuba designed a regulatory process similar to the international scientific standards. Therefore, it established an organization called National Clinical Trials Coordinating Center (CENCEC, its Spanish acronym), within the Ministry of Public Health, that performs clinical evaluation of new products. The Center comprises a National Clinical Trials Coordinating Network of specialized institutions throughout the health system to ensure greater competence and swiftness when performing clinical tests (Pascual, Jiménez, Torres, Fors, & López, 2011). Drug prices in Cuba are controlled by the Ministry of Finance and the government also subsidizes drug costs to bring prices down.
Conclusion
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths both in the United States and worldwide. So far, recognized treatments for lung cancer in the U.S included surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy. However, the recent diplomatic relationship restoration with Cuba may introduce a Cuban therapeutic anticancer vaccine known as Cimavax. This vaccine helps the immune system by producing antibodies that target a protein that causes the growth of cancer cells. As a result, the cancer’s progress slows down and patients can live longer than those who do not take the medication. Cimavax can potentially benefit the America health system because it is much less harmful than most cancer treatments and it is relatively cheap to produce and store. In addition, the medicine could lead American scientist to develop vaccines for other types of cancers.

References
CIMAVAX-EGF for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Vaccine. (2014, November 22). Retrieved
November 10, 2015, from http://www.cubaheal.com/cimavax-egf-for-non-small-cell-lung-cancer-vaccine/
Deadliest Cancer Coalition. (2014, June 1). Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://www.deadliestcancers.org/pdf/Deadly-Cancer-Fact-Sheet-061914.pdf Development & Approval Process (Drugs). (2014, October 10). Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/
Dovey, D. (2015, May 12). Thanks To Cuba, We May Someday Be Able To Prevent Lung
Cancer In America. Retrieved November 13, 2015, from http://www.medicaldaily.com/cimavax-cuban-lung-cancer-vaccine-gets-approval-come-us-what-if-we-could-prevent-332968
Pascual, M., Jiménez, G., Torres, A., Fors, M., & López, I. (2011). Cuba’s National Clinical
Trials Coordinating Center: Emergence, Evolution, and Main Results. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from http://www.medicc.org/mediccreview/articles/mr_184.pdf
Patel, N. (2015, May 11). Cuba Has a Lung Cancer Vaccine-And America Wants It. Retrieved
November 20, 2015, from http://www.wired.com/2015/05/cimavax-roswell-park-cancer-institute/
Smith, C. (2015, May 11). $1 ‘Cutting edge’ Lung Cancer Vaccine Comes from the Same
Country that Makes Cancer-Inducing Cigars. Retrieved November 14, 2015, from http://bgr.com/2015/05/11/cimavax-lung-cancer-vaccine-therapy/

Link For the News Article: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-lung-cancer-vaccine-from-cuba-2015-5