WHEN a crippling US trade embargo blocked Cuba’s access even to antibiotics, Fidel Castro fought back by fostering home-grown medical expertise. Today, Cuba’s medical internationalism is legendary, with a network of volunteer doctors working round the globe. In the 1980s, Cuba also set out to build a socialist biotechnology industry, one that would put public health before profit, prevention before cure.
Did it succeed? Yes and no, argues S. M. Reid-Henry in this highly nuanced and scholarly account. An effective meningitis B vaccine and novel cancer drugs were landmark achievements, but Cuban attempts to win scientific recognition were repeatedly stymied.…
