Mixing Russia's Sputnik V, Astrazeneca Covid shots proves safe: RDIF
The first partnership of this kind was concluded in December last year in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Friday announced that the initial safety results of the world’s first study of a combination between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine in Azerbaijan show combined vaccine use completely safe. "No SAEs (Serious Adverse Events) or cases of coronavirus after vaccination. Positive immunogenicity results expected in August," Sputnik V said in a statement.
Sputnik V developed the vaccine cocktail approach with two different vectors for two shots (Ad26+Ad5). This mix and match approach has recently gained global recognition, Sputnik V said, adding that the RDIF actively collaborates with other vaccines to show mix and matching is effective against new Covid-19 strains.
“As new strains of coronavirus emerge, partnerships between vaccine manufacturers and combining different vaccines are key to successfully fight the pandemic. Based on the high efficacy of the heterogeneous boosting (vaccine cocktail) approach, RDIF was the first in the world to initiate partnerships with other coronavirus vaccine manufacturers," Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF's chief executive, said, according to Sputnik V.
Dmitriev said that the first partnership of this kind was a joint clinical trial with AstraZeneca, adding that it looks forward to its success in Azerbaijan and other countries, which will allow more effective implementation of vaccination programs and protect people around the globe. "We consider it important to conduct joint research on combining the first component of Sputnik V with vaccines from other manufacturers for a more effective fight against emerging new strains of coronavirus," Dmitriev added.
The first partnership of this kind was concluded in December last year in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. RDIF, the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, AstraZeneca and R-Pharm has signed a memorandum of intent which is aimed at cooperation in vaccine development, Sputnik V stated.
“A heterogeneous prime-boosting involving administering components of different vaccines to a patient is one of the most promising vaccination regimens to study. It is becoming especially relevant now when the issue of preventing the spread of new strains of coronavirus infection is acute, and the need for revaccination of the population is also coming to a head," Irina Panarina, general manager of AstraZeneca Russia and Eurasia, said. "That is why the results of the study can be of great importance for those countries where both the vaccine by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford and the Sputnik V vaccine are registered," she said.
The studies on the safety and immunogenicity of the combination of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine in Azerbaijan began in February this year. To date, 50 volunteers have been vaccinated and new participants are invited to join the trial process. Provisional analysis of the data demonstrates a high safety profile for the combined use of the vaccines with no serious or adverse effects or cases of Covid-19 after vaccination.