Η AstraZeneca and the Russia They announced joint clinical trials in which their COVID-19 vaccines will be combined.
«We are announcing a clinical trial program to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of ASD1222, developed by the AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, and the Sputnik V, developed by the »Gamaleya Research Laboratory", announced AstraZeneca's Russian subsidiary, specifying that the trials will be conducted on people aged Ages 18 and older. Both vaccines have been produced using human adenoviruses.
Russian scientists believe that combining the two vaccines is likely to significantly increase their effectiveness. The Gamaleya Institute developed the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. Last month, it proposed this initiative to AstraZeneca via Twitter, based on the assumption that using two doses from two different vaccines might be more effective than administering two doses of the same vaccine.
In a statement, the Russian fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) , which is involved in the development of the Sputnik V vaccine, announced that on November 23 it proposed to AstraZeneca that it use one of the two components of the Russian vaccine.
«AstraZeneca has accepted the Russian Direct Investment Fund's proposal to use one of the two vectors from the Sputnik V vaccine in the supplementary clinical trials of its own vaccine, which will begin before the end of the year,» the RDIF said. «Combinations of different COVID-19 vaccines may be an important step toward providing greater protection through a stronger immune response and greater accessibility,» AstraZeneca explained. The hope is that combining the two vaccines can elicit a «stronger immune response.».
Russia claims that the Sputnik V vaccine is 95% effective. It is currently in Phase 3 of clinical trials involving 40,000 volunteers. Russia began vaccinating its population last week, starting with frontline workers. AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford announced that their vaccine has an average efficacy of 70%.
