The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca today begins clinical trials of a combination of its own vaccine against coronavirus infection with the Russian drug Sputnik V, developed by the Gamalea Center. This was announced on Friday by the press service of AstraZeneca.
“Today we are announcing the start of a clinical trial program to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the combined use of the AZD1222 vaccine and the Sputnik V vaccine”, – the statement said.
The test will be attended by volunteers over 18 years old. The company noted that combinations of different vaccines could be an important step in the prevention of COVID-19.
As stated in AstraZeneca, studies of different modes of vaccine use will help create more flexible vaccination schedules and provide doctors with a wider choice of approaches to prevent coronavirus infection. The combination of the British and Russian vaccines is expected to result in an enhanced immune response.
The company noted the similarity of the AZD1222 and Sputnik V preparations: both are based on adenoviral vectors, into which the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is embedded.
Sputnik V proposed a joint vaccine trial for AstraZeneca at the end of November. In this way, Russian developers wanted to increase the effectiveness of drugs for revaccination – a second vaccination made in order to strengthen the immune system.