The Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm has begun production of a coronavirus vaccine under license from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. This was reported to Vedomosti by the company. This vaccine is for export use only.
“The vaccine is produced at the R-Pharm site for export in accordance with the agreement dated July 18, 2020,” the company explained. This agreement implied cooperation between R-Pharm and AstraZeneca in the production of a ready-made recombinant adenovirus vaccine and its launch in Russia, if clinical trials are successful. At the same time, the Anglo-Swedish company transferred the Russian cell line and the adenovirus vector.
Deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Vasily Osmakov, commenting on the launch of the production of the vaccine from AstraZeneca at the R-Pharm site in Pushchino near Moscow, explained that the drug is manufactured under “specific export contracts”. He stressed that the Anglo-Swedish vaccine is not produced on the domestic Russian market, since now the demand for it is provided by domestic drugs, however, he noted that with regard to the Russian market in the future, “anything is possible.”
AstraZeneca is also involved in clinical trials of a combination of its own vaccine and the Russian Sputnik Light, which, according to preliminary results, has proven to be safe and effective. At the same time, so far not a single foreign drug, including the vaccine from AstraZeneca, has been registered in Russia.
Now in the country, five domestic vaccines against coronavirus have been approved for use: Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, KoviVac, Sputnik Light and EpiVacCorona-N. Mass vaccination against coronavirus began in January this year. In July, a revaccination against coronavirus began in Moscow. It is recommended to pass it for those who have had a coronavirus or were vaccinated from it more than six months ago.
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