PremiumRussia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is found to be effective against all variants of coronavirus, including the Delta variant, according to a study.
The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced strong results of the study on neutralizing the activity of sera from individuals vaccinated with Sputnik V vaccine against new variants of SARS-CoV-2.
The Gamaleya Institute said that vaccination with Sputnik V has produced protective neutralizing titers 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 institute said the study has been based on the assessment of virus-neutralizing activity (VNA) using the live virus. It compared neutralizing activity of Sputnik V induced sera to the internationally relevant variants with the neutralizing activity to the ancestral B.1.1.1 variant.
The Gamaleya Center and RDIF are also studying new opportunities to develop vaccine cocktails jointly with other leading COVID vaccine producers using the first component of Sputnik V.
Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally with a total population of over 3.5 billion people.
"RDIF will continue supporting further studies of the efficacy of Sputnik V against new strains while also analyzing 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 RDIF.
Meanwhile, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, which soft-launched Russia's COVID-19, has expanded the pilot project to over 50 other cities in India.
The Indian drug regulator has granted permission for restricted emergency use of SputnikV. Dr Reddy's has partnered with major hospitals across the country for this purpose.
Recently, Dr Reddy's received nearly 3 million doses of Sputnik V from Russian Direct Investment Fund with which it has a pact to sell 125 million people doses (250 million vials) in India.
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