In a bid to combat future mutations of COVID-19, a joint research programme will begin in February 2021 to assess the immunogenicity and safety of the combined usage of two vaccines, Sputnik V and Oxford/AstraZeneca in clinical trials.
The Ministry of Healthcare of Republic of Azerbaijan has granted an approval to conduct clinical trials of the combined use of the Sputnik V and Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in Azerbaijan. Previously, the Gamaleya National Center, RDIF, AstraZeneca and R-Pharm signed an agreement to cooperate on COVID-19 vaccine development, which was announced in December 2020.
The world’s first clinical trial program to asses vaccines combination will be conducted in line with clinical trials protocol registered on December 24, 2020 and will take place in several countries, enrolling 100 adults aged 18 years and older.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said: “We need to join our international efforts and use the most advanced solutions to defeat the coronavirus. A publication in the leading peer-reviewed medical journal, The Lancet, showed Sputnik V to be 91.6% efficacious. It is only one of three vaccines in the world with efficacy over 90%. We are ready to develop cooperation with other manufacturers to increase the number of affordable and effective drugs. The partnership for the clinical study of the combination of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca with the adenoviral vector Ad26 of the Sputnik V vaccine was the first and very important example of such cooperation in the world.”
Alexey Repik, the R-Pharm Chairman of the Board, noted: “R-Pharm has been actively working with the Republic of Azerbaijan for several years, we opened a modern production facility here in 2019, later in 2020 we registered two drugs from our anti-Covid portfolio: Artlegia and Coronavir. This pilot study is vital for developing of a new approach to the prevention of COVID-19, moreover the leading scientific and clinical centers of Azerbaijan will be able to make their own important contribution in this direction.”
