Russia has claimed that Sputnik V is 92% effective in protecting people from COVID-19 (Representative)
Britain’s AstraZeneca said on Friday it would investigate combining its experimental COVID-19 vaccine with the Russian candidate Sputnik V vaccine, a move that Russian scientists have suggested could dramatically boost efficacy.
Sputnik V developers suggested on Twitter last month that AstraZeneca test the combination.
“Sputnik V is pleased to share one of its two human adenoviral vectors with AstraZeneca to increase the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Using two different vectors for two injections of the vaccine will result in greater efficacy than using the same vector for two injections. ” they said on November 23.
In its statement on Friday, AstraZeneca said it was considering how it could test combinations of different vaccines, and would soon begin exploring with Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed Sputnik V, whether two vaccines based on the common cold virus could be successfully combined. .
Data published in a journal this week showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is being developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford, has an average efficacy of 70.4%, based on a pooled analysis of interim data from late-stage trials.
Russia has claimed that Sputnik V is 92% effective in protecting people from COVID-19, based on the results of interim trials.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, which has funded Sputnik V, said: “This shows the strength of Sputnik V technology and our willingness and desire to partner with other vaccines to fight COVID together.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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