Russia's Sputnik V vaccine 91.6% effective in late-stage trial

The Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik-V has been found to have 91.6 per cent efficacy in the phase-III clinical trial, the results of which have been published in the top medical journal Lancet on Tuesday.

The controversial vaccine is likely to be an important component in India’s vaccination strategy as it is currently being clinically evaluated in the country.

The Russian authorities had signed an agreement with Indian pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to conduct clinical trials in India and distribute 100 million doses of the vaccine if the trial is successful.

Moreover, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which funded the vaccine development inked a separate contract with Hetero, one of India’s leading generic pharmamceutical firms to produce 100 million doses every year in India.

The phase-III or efficacy trial of the vaccine was carried out in 25 hospitals in Russia on 21,977 adults who received two doses of the vaccine at a gap of 21 days between September and November.

In the analysis that included data on 19,866 volunteers, who received both the first and second doses of the vaccine or placebo, it has been found that the vaccine efficacy was 91.6 per cent. In a sub-group of 60 plus population, the efficacy was 91.8 per cent.

“The data proves that not only Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine, but also one of the best. It fully protects against severe Covid-19 according to the data which has been independently compiled and reviewed by peers,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF said in a statement.

“Sputnik V is one of only three vaccines in the world with an efficacy of over 90 per cent but outperforms them in terms of safety, ease of transportation due to storage requirements of 2-8 degrees and a more affordable price.”

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However the vaccine, developed by scientists at the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, had its share of controversies last year as many scientists accused the Russians of registering the vaccine for commercial use without adequate clinical trial data.

"The development of the Sputnik V vaccine has been criticised for unseemly haste, corner-cutting, and an absence of transparency," said a joint independent commentary by Ian Jones of the University of Reading and Polly Roy of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"But the outcome (reported in the Lancet) is clear and the scientific principle of vaccination is demonstrated, which means another vaccine can now join the fight to reduce the incidence of Covid-19."

The results suggest that the Russian shot is among the top-performing vaccines, along with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna jabs that also reported more than 90 per cent efficacy.