The vaccine war

                                The vaccine war
The Russian vaccine against Coronavirus: the note that tells its story and "was banned" in the West

The Sputnik news agency assured that this note, signed by the CEO of the official Russian body that financed the coronavirus vaccine, was "banned from the main Western media." It responds to the accusations received by Putin's announcement.

By Kirill Dmitriev: The official Russian news agency Sputnik, whose very name shows that the name of the coronavirus vaccine was not a coincidence, released the following note with the clarification that its publication had been "rejected by the mainstream media. western communication ". They also highlighted that they believe that "this information is crucial for the international effort to fight against the world's greatest challenge."
It describes the background of the vaccine, the Russian tradition in the matter and how the scientific data supporting its approval will be made known.

Russia registers first vaccine against COVID-19

The Sputnik moment has happened. The Russian Sputnik V vaccine has been released, becoming the world's first recorded COVID-19 vaccine and evoking memories of the shocking 1957 Soviet satellite launch that opened space to human exploration. This new era led not only to competition, but also to many collaborative efforts, including the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission of the United States and the Soviet Union.

The COVID-19 vaccine is the world's number one priority, and many countries, organizations and companies say they are close to developing it. By the end of this year, some other countries may have their own vaccines. It is important that political barriers do not prevent the best available technologies from being used for the benefit of all people in the face of the most serious challenge faced by endemic humanity.

Unfortunately, instead of examining the science behind the adenoviral vector-based vaccine platform that Russia has developed, some politicians and international media chose to focus on politics and attempts to undermine the credibility of the Russian vaccine. . We believe that such an approach is counterproductive and call for a political ceasefire for vaccines in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Success is rooted in history

It is not widely known around the world that Russia has been one of the world leaders in vaccine research for centuries. Russian Empress Catherine the Great set the example in 1768 when she received the country's first smallpox vaccine, 30 years before the first vaccination was to take place in the United States.

In 1892, the Russian scientist Dmitri Ivanovski observed an unusual effect while studying tobacco leaves infected with mosaic disease. The leaves remained infectious even after the scientist filtered out the bacteria. Although it was still almost half a century before the first virus could be seen through a microscope, Ivanovski's research gave birth to a new science called virology.

Since Ivanovski's discovery, Russia has been one of the world leaders in virology and vaccine research, giving dozens of talented scientists such as researcher Nikolai Gamaleya who studied in the laboratory of French biologist Louis Pasteur in Paris and opened the second vaccination station against the rage of the world in Russia in 1886.

Nikolai Gamaleya, Soviet microbiologist and epidemiologist

The Soviet Union continued to support virus and vaccine research. All people born after World War II received mandatory vaccinations against polio, tuberculosis, and diphtheria. In a rare example of Cold War-era cooperation, three prominent Soviet virologists traveled to the United States in 1955 to offer testing opportunities in the Soviet Union for an American vaccine against polio, a deadly disease that claimed millions of lives. . If we were able to cooperate then, we can and must do so again now.

Decades of efforts by Russian and Soviet scientists led to the creation of an excellent research infrastructure, such as the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. This infrastructure ranges from one of the richest virus libraries in the world, created with a unique preservation technique, to experimental animal breeding centers. We are proud of this legacy, which enabled us to create the world's first approved COVID-19 vaccine. We have already received international requests for 1 billion doses of our vaccine and have reached international agreements to produce 500 million doses per year with the intention of increasing it.

President Vladimir Putin: Russia Has Approved ‘World’s First Coronavirus Vaccine

 

The real secret

Currently, many Western media and politicians question the speed of the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in Russia, doubting its effectiveness and authenticity. The secret behind this speed is Russia's expertise in vaccine research. Since the 1980s, the Gamaleya Center has spearheaded the effort to develop a technological platform that uses adenoviruses, which are found in human adenoids and normally transmit the common cold, as vectors or vehicles, which can engender one genetic material from another virus in a cell. The gene for the adenovirus, which causes the infection, is removed, and a gene encoding a protein from another virus is inserted. This inserted element is small, it is not a dangerous part of a virus and it is safe for the body, but it still helps the immune system to react and produce antibodies that protect us from infection.

The adenovirus-based vector technology platform facilitates and accelerates the creation of new vaccines by modifying the initial carrier vector with genetic material from new emerging viruses. Such vaccines elicit a strong response from the human body to develop immunity, while the general process of vector modification and manufacturing of the pilot stage takes only a few months.

Human adenoviruses are considered one of the easiest to design in this way and have therefore become very popular as vectors. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, all Russian researchers had to do was extract a coding gene from the spike of the new coronavirus and implant it into a familiar adenovirus vector for delivery into a human cell. They decided to use this proven and available technology instead of going into uncharted territory.

The most recent studies also indicate that two injections of the vaccine are needed to create long-lasting immunity. Since 2015, Russian researchers have been working on a two-vector approach, hence the idea of ​​using two types of adenoviral vectors, Ad5 and Ad26, in the COVID-19 vaccine. In this way, they deceive the body, which has developed immunity against the first type of vector, and enhance the effect of the vaccine with the second injection by using a different vector. It is like two trains trying to deliver a major cargo to a fortress of a human body that needs delivery to start producing antibodies. You need the second train to make sure the cargo reaches its destination. The second train should be different from the first, which has already been attacked by the body's immune system and is already familiar to you. So while other vaccine manufacturers only have one train, we have two.

The two-vector method

The Gamaleya Center used adenoviral vectors to develop vaccines against influenza and against the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Both vaccines are currently in advanced stages of clinical trials. These achievements demonstrate that Russian laboratories have wasted no time in recent decades, while the international pharmaceutical industry has often underestimated the importance of new vaccine research in the absence of global health threats prior to the COVID pandemic. 19.

Other countries are following in our footsteps by developing adenoviral vector-based vaccines. The University of Oxford is using an adenovirus from a monkey that has never been used before in an approved vaccine, unlike human adenoviruses. The American company Johnson & Johnson is using the Ad26 adenovirus and the Chinese CanSino, the Ad5 adenovirus, the same vectors that the Gamaleya Center is using, but they have not yet mastered the two-vector method. Both companies have already received large orders for vaccines from their governments.

The use of two vectors is a unique technology, developed by the scientists of the Gamaleya Center, which differentiates the Russian vaccine from others based on adenoviral vectors that are being developed around the world. Adenoviral vector-based vaccines also have clear advantages over other technologies such as mRNA vaccines.

Potential mRNA vaccines, which are undergoing clinical trials in the United States and other countries, do not use vectors for delivery, but instead rely on an RNA molecule encoded by the coronavirus protein encased in a lipid membrane. This technology is promising, but its side effects, especially its impact on fertility, have yet to be fully studied. No mRNA vaccine has yet received regulatory approval in the world. We believe that in the global vaccine race to combat the coronavirus, adenoviral vector-based vaccines will be the winners, but even in this category Gamaleya's vaccine is ahead of the game.

Facing skepticism

The Russian vaccine is already ready and registered. The first two phases of the clinical trials have finished and their results will be published this month in accordance with international requirements. These documents will provide detailed information about the vaccine, including exact antibody levels, as shown in various third-party tests, as well as Gamaleya's proprietary test, which identifies the most effective antibodies that attack the coronavirus spike. They will also show that all clinical trial participants developed 100% immunity to COVID-19. Studies in golden hamsters, animals that normally die from COVID-19, showed 100% protection and an absence of lung damage after receiving a lethal dose of the infection. After registration, we will conduct international clinical trials in three more countries. Mass production of the vaccine is expected to begin in September and we already see strong global interest in the vaccine.

Development of the COVID-19 vaccine © El Skepticism among the media and international politicians has emerged just as Russia announced its plans for mass production of the COVID-19 vaccine. When I spoke to the Western media, many refused to include key facts about the Russian COVID-19 vaccine research in their stories. We view this skepticism as an attempt to undermine our efforts to develop a vaccine that works, stops the pandemic, and helps reopen the world economy.

It is not the first time that Russia has faced international mistrust over its leadership in science when politics gets in the way of scientific advances and threatens public health. During the polio outbreak in Japan in the 1950s, Japanese mothers, whose children died of polio, came out to demonstrate against their own government that had banned imports of the Soviet polio vaccine for political reasons. The protesters achieved their goal and the ban was lifted saving the lives of more than 20 million Japanese children.

Today, politics is once again standing in the way of Russian technology that can save lives around the world. Russia is open to international cooperation in the fight against this and future pandemics. In the words of a member of the Soviet delegation at the international conference on polio vaccines held in Washington in 1960, who in response to questions from the public about vaccine safety said that in Russia "we love our children and we love our children. we care about their well-being as much as the people of the United States, or any other part of the world, care about their children. " Following these words, the Soviet delegation received a standing ovation from the audience and joint work on vaccines continued. The well-being and prosperity of future generations is what we have to think about now. Every country in the world must leave politics behind and focus on finding the best solutions and technologies to protect lives and resume economic activity. Our foundation has already secured manufacturing partnerships in five countries to jointly produce the Russian vaccine. Perhaps at some point, thanks to this partnership in the fight against COVID-19, we can also review and abandon politically motivated restrictions in international relations, which have become outdated and represent an obstacle to coordinated efforts to address to global challenges.

* Kirill A. Dmitriev is the CEO of Russia's Direct Investment Fund, a $ 10 billion sovereign wealth fund created by the Russian government that funded the development of the Sputnik coronavirus vaccine.