MOSCOW: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has revealed the results of a study on the Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 and its effectiveness against the Omicron variant, foreign media reported.
This comparative study was conducted at Italy’s Spallanzani Institute by a joint Italian-Russian team of researchers representing the institute and the Gamaleya Center in Moscow. Results show that the Sputnik V jab demonstrates more than twice the level of titers of virus neutralising antibodies to Omicron variant than two doses of the Comirnaty vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
The study discusses several reasons for Sputnik V eliciting stronger virus neutralising antibodies against Omicron, including the Russian jab developing a wider pool of antibodies to different epitopes. This is in contrast to the Pfizer vaccine, which utilises the spike protein in a proline-stabilised form directed mainly to the specific epitopes that were highly affected by the mutations in the Omicron variant.
Heterologous prime-boost vaccination regimen of Sputnik and better mimicking of adenoviral vaccine platform of the infection were also cited as factors for the effectiveness of the Russian jab.
The RDIF pointed out that the data support the results of the laboratory study by the Gamaleya Center published in MedRxiv demonstrating that Sputnik V induces robust neutralising antibody response to Omicron variant, which is further strengthened by Sputnik Light booster.
Further research has also been pointed out by RDIF in support of its vaccinations. The Sputnik team has partnerships with other vaccine producers to conduct joint studies in a number of countries. For example, a mix and match trial of a combination of Sputnik Light with vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna and CanSino Biologics, conducted in five provinces in Argentina, has demonstrated that Sputnik Light induces stronger antibody and T-cell response as compared to homologous regimen.
Each vaccine cocktail combination with Sputnik Light provided a higher antibody titer on the 14th day after administering a second dose when compared to original homogenous regimens of each of the vaccines.
The RDIF claims that heterologous boosting with Sputnik Light has proven to be one of the best solutions to prolong the protection period of other vaccines. The Sputnik team has urged immediate global, open comparative trials on Sputnik Light and other boosters to COVID vaccines, arguing that deterring these comparative mix and match studies delay the end of the pandemic as the advantages of this most efficient approach will not be utilised. So far, Sputnik V has been authorised in 71 countries with a total population of more than four billion people, and Sputnik Light in more than 30 countries.