On July 12, the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund announced strong results of the study that neutralise sera activity from people who have been vaccinated with Sputnik V vaccine against new variants of Covid-19.
Researchers have said that protective neutralising titers have been produced due to vaccination by Sputnik against new variants, including Alpha B.1.1.7 (first identified in the UK), Beta B.1.351 (first identified in South Africa), Gamma P.1 (first identified in Brazil), Delta B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3 (first identified in India) and Moscow endemic variants B.1.1.141 and B.1.1.317 with mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD).
“The methodology was based on the assessment of virus-neutralising activity (VNA) using the live virus, which provides the most reliable data and is the gold standard. It compared neutralising activity of Sputnik V induced sera to the internationally relevant variants with the neutralising activity to the ancestral B.1.1.1 variant. The sera were obtained from individuals after vaccination with two doses of Sputnik V,” researchers were quoted as saying.
The study methodology was described in the research paper published in a leading international journal called “Vaccines” on July 12.
“Sputnik V pioneered the vaccine cocktail approach with two shots. The tests conducted by the Gamaleya Center have demonstrated the validity of this approach as the virus-neutralising activity against new strains, which are more dangerous and infectious, remains higher than that of many other vaccines. RDIF will continue supporting further studies of the efficacy of Sputnik V against new strains while also analysing opportunities to partner with other leading vaccine producers for developing vaccine cocktails using the first shot of Sputnik V,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Virus neutralising activity assay is not directly related to a vaccine’s effectiveness.
“The data confirms that Sputnik V remains protective against newly detected variants. Notably, Sputnik V demonstrated significantly less of a reduction in its virus-neutralising activity against a number of variants compared to data from other vaccine producers, which had earlier confirmed the efficacy of their vaccines against new variants of coronavirus,” the company stated.
Studies are ongoing at the Gamaleya Center and RDIF to develop new opportunities to develop vaccine cocktails and other leading producers of Covid-19 vaccines. This is expected to be done using the first component of Sputnik V.
“Our studies have demonstrated strong results of Sputnik V against new variants of SARS-CoV-2. We receive more evidence of the ability of coronavirus to transform and mutate across the globe. Today Sputnik V is one of the most effective vaccines against both original and new variants of coronavirus thanks to its unique approach of using two different adenoviral vectors as a delivery mechanism,” said Alexander Gintsburg, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
Sputnik V has been registered globally in as many as 67 countries with a population of more than 3.5 billion people.
The company said that during the vaccination of people in several countries, the real-world data obtained revealed that Sputnik V is the most effective and one of the safest vaccines against the virus. These countries include Mexico, Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, San-Marino, UAE, etc.
