The study on using a cocktail of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik Light vaccine has shown that it has no serious adverse effects, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
"Interim analysis of the data demonstrates a high safety profile for the combined use of the vaccines with no serious adverse events or cases of coronavirus after vaccination, the RDIF said on Friday.
Studies on safety and immunogenicity of the combination of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine in Azerbaijan began in February 2021.
50 volunteers have been vaccinated and new participants are invited to join the trial, it said.
The RDIF and its partners will publish the full results of the trial, including data on the immune response produced by the combination vaccine, in August.
As new strains of coronavirus emerge, partnerships between vaccine manufacturers and combining different vaccines are key to successfully fighting the pandemic.Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
“A heterogeneous prime-boosting involving administering components of different vaccines to a patient is one of the most promising vaccination regimens to study," Irina Panarina, General Manager, AstraZeneca Russia and Eurasia, said.
"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," Panarina added.
Earlier this week, Russia had given the green light for clinical trials combining the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines.
Clinical trials of a combination of vaccines are being carried out in several countries as part of a global program.
Volunteers are being vaccinated in UAE, and regulatory approval to conduct trials has been granted in Russia and Belarus, the RDIF said.
Both the Sputnik V and the AstraZeneca are viral vector vaccines that are based on a first dose followed by a second jab.
Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of Sputnik V.
AstraZeneca uses a replication-defective chimpanzee viral vector based on an attenuated version of the common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infection in chimpanzees, and contains genetic material from the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
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