Combining COVID-19 Adenovirus Vaccines Found Safe

The U.K.-based AstraZeneca, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and the R-Pharm group co-announced today interim results of phase II clinical trials in Azerbaijan evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of the combined use of AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria vaccine and the first component of the Sputnik Light vaccine.

According to the interim results of the trials, the combination demonstrated an acceptable safety profile, and no serious adverse events related to vaccination were registered.

The research is the first study to evaluate the combined use of components of different adenovirus vaccines to prevent coronavirus infection.

The WHO estimates that the interchangeability of different drugs will allow greater flexibility in COVID-19 vaccination programs increase vaccine efficacy and affordability.

Vasily Ignatiev, CEO of the R-Pharm Group JSC, commented in a press release issued on February 14, 2022, 'Current safety data adds to the data on the high immunogenicity profile of the vaccine combination that 'was' announced earlier.'

'We are one step closer to completing the studies, and the results are being processed.'

The COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria) was co-invented by the University of Oxford, and its spin-out company, Vaccitech, and versions of it are available in most countries.

It uses a replication-deficient viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike protein.

After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.

The single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine is based on recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26, the first Sputnik V vaccine's first component.

Sputnik Light is currently available in about thirty countries globally.