The red scorpion or blue scorpion (Rhopalurus junceus) is an endemic species from Cuba, different from the remaining 36 varieties that are found in the island. It owes its name to the blue tone on its tail and stinger; the red color is due to its body shows a dark reddish hue.
Few people would dare to contemplate the extraordinary physiognomy of these menacing specimens with pronounced claws and tail, and always ready to strike a sting, whose pain persists for a long time.
However, men and women live among these animals, feed and manipulate them in a small area of the province of Ciego de Ávila. In such circumstances, it is difficult to escape as unharmed people from frequent punctures, but the skills acquired over the years and the means of protection allow them to avoid them while taking care of them and extracting their toxins for subsequent shipment to the Labiofam laboratories in Havana, where they are used to the development of the drug Vidatox 30 CA.
Scientific studies have corroborated the analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects of the toxin proteins, hence its medical application in patients with cancer tumors, through homeopathic drops that do not interfere with other treatments applied against the disease.
The drug inhibits malignant cells that are harmless to human health without side effect, and its most significant achievements are often recorded in patients with breast, prostate, brain, lung, cervix, pancreas and colon cancer.
Researcher Alexis Díaz, from the Biopharmaceutical and Chemical Production Company (Labiofam), in statements to the Prensa Latina news agency, stated: "Evidence has shown that it improves the quality of life of patients, helps them regain weight body and appetite, and contributes to reduce the consumption of traditional analgesics".
Although in the Ciego de Ávila's territory the extraction of the poison began in 2005, the therapeutic use of the toxin of the blue scorpion was discovered after a decade of work by the Cuban biologist Misael Bordier, who started the scorpion farm and his research in the late 1980s, at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Guantánamo.
The toxin, once formulated and sterilized, constitutes the natural product, also marketed as Escozul, whose use has expanded to countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, based on drug imports and the socialization of experiences in the treatment of cancer diseases, which is one of the leading causes of death in a global level.
DECRYPTING THE SCORPION FARM
In a horrifying maneuver with tweezers, Mileidys catches one of the specimens that remain in captivity in the Vivarium of the Labiofam Production Unit in the municipality of Morón, checks its vitality and returns it to the bottom of the container (lined with zeolite), where it rests and has at its disposal a small bowl of water. Then he deposits a live gallery (a small worm that makes up its diet twice a week) and ipso facto the predator catches it to devour it.
The view is lost among the 7,000 or 8,000 containers, carefully labeled and classified, that sit on different shelves. In each one, a scorpion coexists, therefore, the procedure to attend to them is copious, in charge of three technicians from the production unit. It requires patience, skill and a lot of sensitivity. "We take care of them as if they were children," Mileidys says.
“The extraction of the poison is carried out monthly, through a completely artisanal process. With a voltage regulator that decreases the intensity of the current between 20 and 22 volts, three strokes of the pedal are given and, when receiving the electrical stimulus while it is held with two tweezers, it expels the poison drops through the canopy. They are classified as negative and returned to their natural environment if they cannot get poison after the third extraction attempt”, Alejandro Negrín Brito, the entity's production specialist, explains.
In the authorized exploitation period (two years), in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) for the protection of fauna; 24 extractions are carried out on each animal and, later, they are released in the capture areas, which are scattered throughout almost the entire province.
An average of 10 milliliters (ml) of toxins can be extracted from a number of scorpions between 50 and 55. In one day up to 150 ml can be extracted.
In 2020, the entity produced 12,516 liters that made it possible to send 40 batches of toxins to the Labiofam Central Laboratory and an income equivalent to 82,348.48 pesos in national currency, supported by quality extractions from protein concentrations with a minimum of six and up to greater than 10 mg/ml.
The Morón's productive unit will have to extract 21,817 ml in the course of 2021, a goal set at the national level that presents many obstacles to its fulfillment with around 8,000 scorpions in the vivarium and a capture plan set at 500 per month.
“Catching such a large quantity of blue scorpions is difficult in the current circumstances, as a consequence of the notable decrease of the species in the Ciego de Ávila's properties, after the lashes of Hurricane Irma. We must also take into account the reductions in the animal farm, due to deaths (on average 2% of the mass dies) and the release due to deadlines met or their negative status. The only thing that really adds up is the capture,” Negrín Brito said.
This is not a mere justification for probable non-compliance, but a logical and objective reasoning, in circumstances where the scorpion projects seem to be in decline in the country, a phenomenon that has been manifesting since 2017.
“The devaluation of the toxin, priced in correspondence with the protein concentration, led to the scorpion farms being subsidized, generating demotivation among workers and a reduction in contributions. The national production plan currently corresponds to an amount of 72,000 scorpions, a number of animals that were previously cared in large scorpions farms such as those in the provinces of Granma and Holguín ”, the production specialist emphasized.
Other figures add greater objectivity to the words: toxins with protein concentrations of 10 mg/ml, previously paid at 24.00 pesos, national currency per ml, are now marketed for a value of 5.76; meanwhile, the highest quality ones were priced at higher prices and currently only cost 13,0011 per ml.
The decrease in prices also has a negative impact on the sustainability of the productive unit, taking into account that the procedures establish that the scorpions must be fed eight times a month and the galleries acquired in the Entomophagous and Entomopathogenic Centers (CREE by its Spanish initials) have a value 0.18 cents each one.
Despite the difficult conditions, the entity ensures the adequate treatment of animals to continue contributing to the consolidation of the Biopharmaceutical Industry as one of the activities with the greatest export capacity. Productive consistency and technological discipline distinguish them in a persistent action to enhance the health ‒ drug chain, in a context of international recognition of Cuban treatments and applications.
The workers of the Labiofam Productive Unit in Morón continue to be trapped by blue scorpions, in an effort to continue promoting economic, social and scientific development. Sensitivity also motivates them, they know that each drop of toxin represents relief and hope for patients afflicted by terrible diseases such as cancer.