A laboratory technician, a vaccine candidate from the University of Oxford’s COVID-19, oversees the filling and packaging tests for mass production and supply of AZD1222, on September 11, 2020 at the Canallent in Italy. Was carried.
Vincenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said on Friday it would soon begin work to investigate whether both of its coronavirus vaccine candidates could be successfully linked to Russia’s Gamalea organization.
The developers of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine reached out to AstraZeneca via Twitter late last month, asking if they should try to combine the two to increase vaccine effectiveness.
“Being able to combine different COVID-19 vaccines can help improve immunization and / or vaccine viability. That’s why, to make vaccination programs more flexible, it’s important to explore different vaccine combinations, allowing physicians more choice.” , ”AstraZeneca said in a statement on Friday.
“There is also the possibility that vaccines may improve immunity in the long run.”
The Covid-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca, produced in collaboration with Raxford University, is one of many that is among the growing hopes that the mass vaccination campaign could help end the epidemic, gaining approval from drug regulators.
To date, with 1.5 million related deaths, more than 69 million people worldwide have contracted coronavirus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“Evaluation of a variety of Covid-19 vaccines in combination can help unlock vaccine accessibility and improve vaccine viability,” AstraZeneca said.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia’s sovereign asset fund – which has funded the development of Sputnik V – said its clinical trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine would begin by the end of the month.
Kirill Dimiterev, CEO of Russian Direct Investment, “AstraZeneca’s decision to conduct a clinical trial using one of the two vectors of Sputnik V to increase the effectiveness of its vaccine.” Fund, said in a statement.
“We welcome the start of this new phase of cooperation between vaccine manufacturers. We are determined to develop this partnership in the future and to start joint production after demonstrating its effectiveness during the new vaccine clinical trials,” Dimitriev said.
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