E-Paper
No adverse effects by mixing Sputnik Light, Aztrazeneca jabs: Study
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, the main backer of the Sputnik V vaccine, announced the initial safety results of the first study on using a combination of the two vaccines that was done in Azerbaijan
The world’s first study on using a cocktail of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik Light vaccine has shown “no serious adverse events or cases of coronavirus after vaccination”.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the main backer of the Sputnik V vaccine, on Friday announced the initial safety results of the first study on using a combination of the two vaccines that was done in Azerbaijan.
“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,” RDIF said in a statement.
“To date 50 volunteers have been vaccinated and new participants are invited to join the trial. 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,” it said.
RDIF and its partners will publish initial data on the immunogenicity of the combined use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine in Azerbaijan In August.
Covishield, the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India, is one of the two main jabs being used for the national immunisation programme. RDIF has concluded agreements with several Indian pharmaceutical firms, including the Serum Institute of India (SII), to manufacture more than 300 million doses of the jab in India, with production set to start in September.
RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev recently told a virtual news briefing that the developers of Sputnik V are looking at using the vaccine along with the AstraZeneca dose in a “mix and match” format. To be sure, India is yet to approve any mixing of vaccines although the Subject Expert Committee of the drugs regulator is said to be evaluating this. Sputnik V has an emergency use approval in India.
The study in Azerbaijan used Sputnik Light or the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine based on human adenovirus serotype 26.
“The heterogeneous boosting approach (‘vaccine cocktail’ using human adenovirus serotype 26 as the first component and human adenovirus serotype 5 as the second component) was at the core of Sputnik V,” RDIF said.
“With this approach proving successful in creating a longer and more durable immunity against the coronavirus, RDIF took the lead in initiating partnerships with other vaccine producers to conduct joint studies of a combination of the first component of Sputnik V with foreign vaccines,” it added.
RDIF, the Gamaleya Center, AstraZeneca and R-Pharm concluded the first such partnership in December 2020.
Clinical trials of a combination of vaccines are also being carried out in several other countries. Volunteers are being vaccinated in UAE, and regulatory approval to conduct such trials has been granted in Russia and Belarus.
Referring to the study in Azerbaijan, Dmitriev said: “As new strains of coronavirus emerge, partnerships between vaccine manufacturers and combining different vaccines are key to successfully fighting the pandemic. Based on the high efficacy of the heterogeneous boosting or vaccine cocktail approach, RDIF was the first in the world to initiate partnerships with other coronavirus vaccine manufacturers…We look forward to its success in Azerbaijan and other countries, which will allow a more effective implementation of vaccination programmes and protect people around the world.”
Irina Panarina, general manager of AstraZeneca Russia and Eurasia, said, “A heterogeneous prime-boosting involving administering components of different vaccines to a patient…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. 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.”
