Russia, AstraZeneca join forces on vaccine testing
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting via video link on a memorandum of intent on cooperation signed between Britain's AstraZeneca, Russia's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the Sputnik V vaccine, Russian Direct Investment Fund, and R-Pharm pharmaceutical company, in Moscow, Russia on Monday.
Developers of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V on Monday announced signing an agreement with AstraZeneca to test a combination of the British drugmaker’s COVID-19 shots and a component of the vaccine created in Moscow.
The developers of Sputnik V proposed the approach to AstraZeneca last month, suggesting it could increase the effectiveness of the British vaccine.
The company announced on December 11 a study to test the combination, and on Monday signed a memorandum of cooperation with Moscow-based medical research facility the Gamaleya Institute, the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Russian drugmaker R-Pharm.
AstraZeneca developed its vaccine with Oxford University.
The Gamaleya Institute developed Sputnik V, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund bankrolled the project.
Speaking at a teleconference marking the signing of the memorandum, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed cooperation between AstraZeneca and Russian scientists, saying it “will make it possible to achieve a breakthrough while working on vaccines and on a number of other vitally important medicines.”
The trials are expected to start “in the nearest future,” according to Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
This month, Russian authorities started mass vaccinations with Sputnik V. The vaccine’s developers have said study data suggested the vaccine was 91 percent effective, based on 78 infections among nearly 23,000 participants.
The latest studies on the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University suggest it safe and about 70 percent effective. Health officials around the world hope to rely on the British vaccine due to comparatively low cost, availability and ease of use.
Kate Bingham, chair of Britain’s vaccine task force, said the UK would start trials next year using combinations of different kinds of vaccine for the initial and booster vaccinations, in the hope that a “mix-and-match” approach might maximize the immune response.
