24 February
After the publication in the authoritative medical journal The Lancet of the results of the third phase of the clinical trial of the Russian vaccine "Sputnik V", it began to conquer international markets. Almost on a weekly basis, a new country is added to the geography of its distribution, the voices of skeptics are heard less and less.
A billion first doses
According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for promoting the Sputnik V vaccine, more than 50 countries have received applications for the purchase of over 1.2 billion doses of the drug. We are talking about the doses needed to vaccinate 1.2 billion people. The cost of the dose (vaccination is carried out in two stages, two injections are made) is about $ 20, respectively, the income from the sale of the vaccine could be $ 24 billion - this is twice the amount that Russia receives from the sale of weapons.
Western manufacturers are also planning to make billions. The EU intends to order about 300 million ampoules from Pfizer vaccine manufacturers in the first trimester of 2021; taking into account that the cost of one ampoule is 15.5 euros, the amount will be 4.65 billion euros. The German company CureVac, one of whose largest investors is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, plans to sell 225 million doses to Europe at a price of 10 euros, with revenues of 2.25 billion euros.
At the moment, the Russian vaccine is registered in 30 countries, including Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, UAE, Hungary and others. More than 10 sitesin India , China, Brazil, South Korea and Kazakhstan, the Russian vaccine is being produced. An application has been submitted for its registration in the European Union. Against this background, Ukraine stands out, where the governmentissued a decree banning the registration of Russian vaccines against coronavirus in the country.
Attempts to prick "Sputnik"
The head of the RDIF Kirill Dmitriev announced the interest in the Sputnik V vaccine in more than 30 countries back in September last year. However, after the vaccine was registered in Russia and until the end of the third phase of its trials, foreign media were full of headlines about the drug's ineffectiveness.
The French newspaper Le Monde wrote: "... Since the Russian vaccine has not yet been tested on a large group of people, the international scientific community expresses doubts about its quality, effectiveness and safety." The Swedish publication Dagens Nyheter stated: “... We do not know how effective the vaccine is in small human studies, and therefore we do not know how well it works in different groups (for example, the elderly). There is also no information on what side effects were found. " "In Russia, they don't know if their vaccine actually works," was the headline of an article by Bloomberg.
However, the results of the third phase of trials of the Russian vaccine, published in February in The Lancet, confirmed "a sustained strong protective effect in all age groups." The study involved 21,977 volunteers.
During the tests, scientists have found that immunity is formed within 18 days after the first dose of the drug. According to published data, the vaccine is 91.6 percent effective and 91.8 percent among people over 60. Antibodies appeared in 98 percent of the study participants, and cellular immunity in all. According to the director of the NITsEM named after V.I. NF Gamalei Alexander Gintsburg, vaccination with the "Sputnik V" vaccine will allow the formation of immunity for at least two years.
A vaccine for the whole world
The Lancet magazine is one of the most respected in the medical world. Of course, this publication lends weight to the Russian vaccine. But the question of whether it is the best in the world, whether there is a vaccine corresponding to it in terms of quality, is a difficult one, - the Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences Yevgeny Lilin comments on Octagon. - We do not see long-term results of vaccinations with Pfizer, AstraZeneca or our vaccines, so we cannot say which one is the best. But we have reasons to hope that the Russian vaccine will be quite competitive in this market, and very serious ones.
After the publication, international experts became supportive of Sputnik V. According to Hildegund Ertl, MD, professor at the Center for Vaccines and Immunotherapy at Vista Institute (USA), Sputnik V is more effective than vaccines from AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson.
"Sputnik V, which, unlike the equally effective RNA vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna, can be refrigerated, will go a long way in tackling the global COVID-19 pandemic."
Hildegund Ertl
Professor of the Center for Vaccines and Immunotherapy, Vista Institute (USA)
The general tone of publications in the media has also changed. The Swedish publication Dagens Industri writes: “We must continue to trade with Russia, especially if it offers something as important as the vaccine we needed yesterday. Sputnik V cannot be rejected just because the vaccine is produced in this country. ”
“Apparently, Russia's statement that Sputnik V is a“ vaccine for the whole world ”has come true, at least in most of the world. While Europe is discussing the refusal to order vaccines, about 20 countries have already approved the Russian vaccine, ”the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung notes.
At first, there was skepticism about our vaccine, including in Russia - for example, in the Russian segment of Facebook and other social networks, because there are always people who, like the heroes of the film "Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano", say that they are grimy to play can not, - shares with "Octagon" Professor of the Department of Virology at the Institute named after Belozersky Moscow State University Alexei Agranovsky. “And such people here spoke and wrote in unison with what they wrote in the West. But behind this lie not only emotions, but also great commercial interests, unfair competition and, of course, politics.
Now, according to the scientist, the attitude has begun to change, and it is difficult to argue with the conclusions of The Lancet. The main challenge now is to maintain good quality in mass production, which is a challenge for any vaccine.
Some drugs have shown rather modest results in mass use, in particular, there are questions about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Doctors are already asking to abandon it, includingdue to the large number of side effects.
Apparently, in the West, there is now an underproduction of vaccines, and this opens up good prospects for our vaccine. The Sputnik concept itself turned out to be better, because it uses two adenoviruses, two platforms. And if you have antibodies to one virus, then it is unlikely to the second one, because it is almost impossible for a person to get sick with two adenoviruses. And it is more efficient than the chimpanzee adenovirus platform, which is used, for example, by AstraZeneca. Therefore, our vaccine can make a great contribution to the victory over the pandemic, says Agranovsky.
It is difficult to say how successful the fate of the new Russian drug will be on international markets, the promotion process is taking place in conditions of serious competition from other manufacturers.
Export "Vector"
Today, more than 20 types of vaccines for COVID-19 are being developed in Russia. Most of them are in preclinical or initial clinical trials. But there are only two obvious leaders so far - "Sputnik V" and "EpiVacCorona", created in the state scientific center of virology and biotechnology "Vector".
Its creators were in no hurry to register and lost the championship to Sputnik V. But they spent more time researching and testing. The "Vector" vaccine was created using a different technology. According to the head of the Department of Zoonotic Infections and Influenza of the Vector Scientific Center, Candidate of Biological Sciences Alexander Ryzhikov, it was developed on the basis of synthetic peptides - artificially created short fragments of viral proteins to which an immune response is formed.
"The preparation lacks a live virus, as well as a viral genome, which makes the vaccine harmless and less reactogenic," the scientist noted. In his opinion, the fact that 40 thousand volunteers took part in the post-registration trials of the vaccine gives a fairly complete picture of its effect on humans.
“The advantage of the EpiVacCorona vaccine is, first of all, its highest safety profile. It is completely areactogenic and can be used both for older people and for people with various immunosuppressive diseases, allergy sufferers. "
Rinat Maksyutov
General Director of the Research Center "Vector" Rospotrebnadzor
At the same time, the creators of the drug themselves note that it will provide immunity for a shorter period than Sputnik V.
The third vaccine, which may become one of the leaders, was created by the Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiological Preparations named after V.I. M.P. Chumakova. It received the name "KoviVak", it was registered on February 20, 2021. Considering the success of Sputnik V, these developments also have great export potential.
Alexey Koryakov
https://zen.yandex.ru/media/octagon_media/sputnik-v-mojet-prinesti-rossii-sotni-milliardov-dollarov-60369c7f109f4c102e1b04c3