The Gamaleya National Research Center, the Anglo-Swedish biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and R-Pharm have adopted a memorandum of cooperation to fight the coronavirus.
"Such a spirit of the partnership today can serve as a good, convincing example of combining scientific forces, technologies, investments for a common goal - to protect life, health and safety of millions of people on the planet as a whole," Vladimir Putin said, congratulating the parties on signing the documents via video link.
Afterward, the Gamaleya Center director Alexander Gintsburg announced the start of joint clinical trials of a combination of Russia's Sputnik V and the drug AZD1222, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
"The trials will not, as far as I can imagine, require a large investment and a long time for the simple reason that the two technological platforms on which the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines are created are fundamentally similar, very similar. Therefore, the components that are included in both vaccines are easily compatible," the scientist added.
Both vaccines were created on the basis of adenovirus vectors, which contain the spike-like protein of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Adenoviruses, however, lack the ability to replicate: they serve as a delivery system for genetic material (antigen) into human cells.
As Ginzburg noted, the component of the Sputnik V, which had shown an intermediate efficacy of more than 91.4% (and 100% against severe cases of COVID-19), may enhance the immune response in AZD1222 vaccinees, whose average effectiveness was previously estimated at 70.4%.
According to AstraZeneca head Pascal Sorio, the combination of the two drugs will provide flexibility to the vaccination program. "We are ready to use Russian clinical capabilities, it's a great collaboration. This will be a unique collaboration in the world between the two vaccine manufacturers, and hopefully, it will allow us to provide better protection," Sorio said. He also said the parties had begun planning a program that would include several countries.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: sputnikvaccine.com
Based on materials from RIA Novosti