Havana’s Placental Histotherapy Center (CHP) is an institution devoted to research, production and the application of therapeutic medications and cosmetics manufactured with ingredients extracted from the human placenta.
Havana’s Placental Histotherapy Center (CHP) is an institution devoted to research, production and the application of therapeutic medications and cosmetics manufactured with ingredients extracted from the human placenta.
Lizandro Nuñez Fonseca and Yuleidys Cruz, receive treatment for their skin diseases at Havana’s Placental Histotherapy Center (CHP), an institution devoted to research, production and the application of therapeutic medications and cosmetics manufactured with ingredients extracted from the human placenta.
He suffers from psoriasis, and she vitiligo, while their five-year-old daughter has also received treatment at the Center since she was diagnosed with alopecia areata. The family lives in Havana’s Santa Fe neighborhood, in the municipality of Playa, and reported that they began treatment at the clinic in 1994 with Dr. Carlos Miyares Cao, who died in August of 2015, a great loss for medicine and humanity.
The doctor and professor, Miyares Cao, was among the first group of physicians trained by the Revolution, and during his years studying Pharmacy was called upon to give classes, since, at that time, many academics were leaving the country. He later studied Gynecology, which contributed to his motivation to use the human placenta in several research projects related to the development of medications.
During his investigations, the eminent scientist created a unique treatment for vitiligo, the only one of its kind in the world, based on the use of a novel medication called Melagenina, registered in 1980, after more than ten years of studies and clinical trials, with the close collaboration of a well-known dermatologist, Dr. Manuel Taboas.
He also developed a psoriasis treatment, Coriodermina, a lotion with a pilo-regenerating effect which inhibits the development of crises; a placenta-based shampoo prescribed for seborrheic eczema and alopecia areata; in addition to an anti-aging cream.
Dr. Ernesto Miyares Díaz, current director of the center, affiliated with the BioCubaFarma pharmaceuticals state enterprise group, reported that the experience gained over three decades and the treatment of thousands of patients, both Cuban and from abroad, has led to the development of Melagenina Plus, a highly effective new version of the vitiligo medication.
The director told Granma International that these medicines have earned Cuba a vanguard position internationally, since no similar products exist elsewhere, explaining, “Other institutions around the world have in their majority studied the animal placenta.”
Also outstanding is the innocuity of these medications based on biological products, in addition to the ease and effectiveness of their use in 80% of patients treated. Placentas are collected from the country’s maternity hospitals, thoroughly evaluated in accordance with established regulations, and tested for sexually transmitted diseases, before receiving certification for their use in the productive process.
Although it is not directly affiliated with the nation’s public health system, the Center receives some 600 Cuban patients a month, from all provinces, in addition to an average of 250 from up to 80 countries, Dr. Miyares reported, emphasizing that no distinctions are made in the treatment of patients regardless of their origin. All are diagnosed and evaluated by specialists, and self-administered treatment is prescribed.
Founded April 25, 1986, with the support of Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, the CHP has a production plant which is currently being updated, with the installation of a bottle filling line for liquid and semi-solid substances, as well as modern water treatment and purification technology.
Given the results obtained in expanding production and exports, the entity became a state enterprise in 2013, with the successful implementation of a self-financing complete-cycle plan of research, production and distribution.
Clinics affiliated with the Center previously existed in Spain, India, Ukraine, Argentina and Brazil, but Cuba could not maintain them given the country’s shortage of hard currency caused by the unjust U.S. blockade. Plans are being considered now to transfer technology to countries interested in investing their own capital in such projects.
One such potential partner is the Mexican state of Campeche, according to Dr. Miyares Díaz, who notes that such joint ventures allow Cuban products to be introduced into the international market, and agreements to export medical services, and training of professionals in postgraduate courses, established.
Source: Granma