Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Published : October 15, 2020 1:26 PM IST
Clinical trials of Sputnik V involving more than 40,000 people in Russia started on August, 24.
Researchers worldwide are racing against time to find a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic. A few vaccine candidates are expected to be released by the end of 2020 or early 2021. Russia is one of the leading countries in the race, in fact, the first country to give regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine. Sputnik V a vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute in Moscow was registered by the Russian Ministry of Health on August 11. However, the move drew criticism from some quarters in the scientific community, with experts raising concern about the vaccine's safety and efficacy as it was approved ahead of Phase 3 clinical trials. Now, media reports say that Russia has also approved its second Covid-19 vaccine.
According to IANS, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced the registration of the country's second Covid-19 vaccine. Dubbed "EpiVacCorona", the second Russian vaccine has been developed by the Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology.
The details of the second vaccine are posted at ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world. As per the data shared there, Vector's vaccine relies on chemically synthesized peptide antigens of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, conjugated to a carrier protein and adsorbed on an aluminum-containing adjuvant.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova claimed that she tested EpiVacCorona vaccine herself and experienced no side effects, according to media reports.
Golikova also informed media persons that the Vector centre is starting post-registration clinical trials in various regions of Russia and would include 40,000 volunteers.
Putin also made an announcement that a third Russian vaccine against Covid-19, developed by the Chumakov Centre, would also be registered in the near future, Sputnik news agency reported.
Sputnik V is an adenovirus vector-based vaccine named after the first space satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. A website has been created by the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund to provide accurate and up-to-date information about Sputnik V and clear misinformation in the international media.
It stated that the vaccine had gone through all stages of pre-clinical trials with experiments on different types of animals, including 2 types of primates, before the start of clinical trials.
Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of the vaccine, which were completed on August 1, 2020, proved that the vaccine induces strong antibody and cellular immune response, without any unwanted side effects. The website claimed none of the volunteers got infected with COVID-19 after being administered with the vaccine.
Post-registration clinical trials involving more than 40,000 people in Russia started on August, 24. A number of countries, including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, and possibly India or Brazil may join the clinical trials of Sputnik V locally. Mass production of the vaccine is expected to start this year itself.
The Gamaleya Research Center is also developing adenoviral vector-based vaccines against influenza and against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which are currently in advanced stages of clinical trials.
Many countries developing COVID-19 vaccine candidates do use adenoviral vectors, but none uses the two-vector platform developed by the Gamaleya Center, it claimed.
