It Sputnik V primarily. But then there are also EpiVacCoron and Covivac. This is the “trio” of vaccines anti-Covid which Russia has already approved. While there are others in development or in the very early stages of experimentation. The most popular vaccine, it Sputnik V, has also landed here in Italy. Although not yet approved by EMA, the European agency that regulates drugs, the vaccine is now being tested at the Spallanzani infectious disease hospital in Rome. Born in the laboratories of the Gamaleya National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Sputnik V is based on viral vector technology, like the vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
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Its goal is to make the immune system produce direct antibodies against the Spike protein of Sars-Cov-2. But unlike the others, the Russian vaccine uses two different adenoviruses: the first injection uses the Ad26 virus and the second Ad25, administered 21 days after the first. This is to reduce the risk that, after the first dose, the organism produces antibodies against the first viral vector, reducing the effectiveness of vaccination in this world.
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In a study published in The Lancet, which involved over 20 thousand people, Sputnik V proved effective in preventing symptomatic disease in 91% of cases. The EMA is evaluating the Russian vaccine, examining above all the circumstances that led to the deaths of 4 people following the vaccination. In the meantime, Spallanzani is concentrating on two lines of experimentation: the first which aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Sputnik V against the new variants, in particular the Brazilian, South African and British variants; the other will look at giving Sputnik V as a second dose to people who have had the first few doses of a vaccine with a similar structure, such as that of AstraZeneca.
The second antiCovid vaccine developed in Russia is EpiVacCoron. Magazine Science he called it “the mystery vaccine” because we have little clear information about this product. Developed by scientists from the Federal Budget Research Institute – State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”, a maximum biosecurity laboratory, EpiVacCorona does not use live viruses. Instead, it is based on synthetic peptide antigens, based on a selection of those found within Sars-CoV-2. This approach then uses fragments of the virus to stimulate an immune response. Although it was registered in October 2020 and the administration started in January, the results of a Phase 1 and 2 peer-reviewed clinical trial have only recently been published. It was conducted by the scientists of the “Vector” themselves, in close collaboration with colleagues from the satellite company LLC “EpiVac” and the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia. From the analysis of the data it emerged that the drug induced the production of specific antibodies for the antigens that make up the vaccine (against the Spike protein) in 100% of the volunteers. The results look encouraging, even though the sample is quite small. Furthermore, no other peptide-based vaccines have been approved in the US and Europe. The top management of the Russian company, according to what was reported by Science, ensure that the vaccine will be effective against the new variants of Sars-CoV-2.
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The third Russian vaccine is CoviVac, made by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiology Drugs of St. Petersburg. Unlike the other two Russian vaccines, it contains the inactivated Sars-CoV-2 virus. It has the important advantage of presenting the viral particle as a whole to the human organism, teaching it to fight the virus. This method can provoke a broader immune response that could protect against multiple variants, unlike other vaccines which focus their action on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. We have no data on efficacy. Phase 3 testing has only been underway a few weeks ago.
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In the meantime, there are other candidates in the early stages of development. For example, there is the vaccine from the Federal Agency of Medicine and Biology (Fmba), whose clinical trials will begin in July and in this case phase 1 and 2 will be combined. Unlike others, the Fmba vaccine does not target the Spike protein, but other protein components of the virus and causes the development of immunity not through the activation of antibodies, but at the cellular level. In this way, researchers think that immunity can last for years. Finally, Russian scientists are working on new versions of the Sputnik V vaccine: one that needs to be stored at -18 ° C and another that uses “dried” material that can be stored at 2-8 ° C, facilitating transport and the distribution. New formulations are also being studied, such as a spray or a single-dose vaccine.
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