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The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it has successfully completed the clinical testing phase of a COVID-19 vaccine conducted in conjunction with the Gamaleya National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. A larger phase III trial is expected to begin in August, involving several thousand people.

According to the press release, "the results of the latest analyzes unequivocally show that all volunteers developed an immune response as a result of the vaccine . " They were vaccinated on June 23 and on August 4, they will undergo a series of control tests to confirm these results and the safety of the vaccine, which did not cause complications, side effects or unwanted reactions at the moment. However, the intensity or duration of their immune response is still unclear.

Elena Smolyarchuk, head of the Center for Clinical Research on Medicines at Sechenov University, posed smiling on Monday with volunteers who were given the Russian vaccine. "On the morning of July 20, a second group of volunteers was discharged," Defense said in a statement, stating that the clinical tests were carried out at the Burdenko Central Military Hospital in Moscow.

The Gamaleya vaccine project is based on human adenovirus, a common cold virus, mixed with the SARS CoV-2 protein to stimulate an immune response. It has some similarities with a vaccine developed by the Chinese corporation CanSino Biologics, which is already in phase 2 trials in Canada.

The Gamaleya vaccine, funded by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and supported by the Defense Ministry, initially completed a phase 1 trial with military personnel. But now she has opened the spectrum of the participants in her tests. In fact, dozens of people from Russia's business and political elite have had early access to this experimental vaccine against COVID-19, the Bloomberg agency published Monday, citing sources from the medical project.

These would be top executives from companies like aluminum giant United Co. Rusal. Billionaires and top government officials would also be on this VIP list. They all started receiving doses developed by the Gamaleya Institute itself in Moscow in early April.

Their names are unknown, and the Kremlin was asked on Monday whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is among the first recipients of this "Russian vaccine." President's spokesman Dimitri Peskov said: "It would probably not be a good idea to use an uncertified vaccine with the head of state." And he claimed not to have any names of the participants.

Espionage or collaboration

On the other hand, Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharm has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine that this British pharmaceutical giant is developing with the University of Oxford, as announced on Friday. The deal comes after accusations by the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States that Russian-backed hackers were trying to steal research into the vaccine. It is unclear what information was collected in the alleged Russian 'hack'.

Kirill Dimitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in an interview on Friday that Moscow did not need to steal secrets as it already had this deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture the possible British vaccine in Russia. The acquisition of the British-developed vaccine is intended to complement, not replace, the Russian vaccine itself, said Dimitriev, for whom Western accusations that Moscow has tried to steal vaccine secrets are an attempt to undermine the credibility of the Russia's own vaccine.

AstraZeneca had already said last month that it was in talks with Russia and other countries about supply agreements for its possible coronavirus vaccine. Moscow would deliver the vaccine developed by the British to other countries that want it, said Dimitriev, who has repeatedly insisted that the preparation in which the Russians work is "better" but has not provided evidence of it. He has advanced that he is one of those who has received a dose of the vaccine in tests.

The global vaccine race that is taking place globally is a pulse for scientific prestige, but also a showcase for international cooperation. For Russia, as for other countries, it is essential to vaccinate its own population as quickly as possible in order to resume full economic activity.

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