After the Sputnik V vaccine’s clinical trial preliminary results showed its efficacy at above 90 percent, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Gamaleya Institute on November 23, 2020 offered AstraZeneca to use one of the two components (human adenoviral vectors) of the Sputnik V vaccine in AstraZeneca’s clinical trials.

AstraZeneca accepted RDIF’s proposal and will begin clinical trials of its vaccine in combination with Sputnik V’s human adenoviral vector type Ad26 by the end of 2020. This research will allow AstraZeneca’s scientists to study the possibility of boosting their vaccine’s efficacy through the application of this combined approach.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented: “This unique example of cooperation between scientists from different countries in jointly fighting coronavirus will play a decisive role in achieving a final victory over the pandemic globally. We hope that other vaccine producers will follow our example.”