The antibody titer is twice as high: scientists pointed to the greater effectiveness of Sputnik V against Omicron than that of Pfizer

The Russian Sputnik V vaccine protects against the Omicron coronavirus strain more than twice as effectively as the Pfizer vaccine.

This follows from the results of a unique independent comparative study conducted by a collaborative team of scientists at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Lazzaro Spallanzani (Italy) and NICEM them.

N.F.

Gamaleya.

“According to the results of the study, the Sputnik V vaccine demonstrated a titer of virus-neutralizing antibodies to the Omicron strain (B.1.1.529) more than twice as high compared with two injections of the Pfizer vaccine (2.1 times higher overall and 2 , 6 times higher - three months after vaccination),” the report says.

The study was conducted at the Spallanzani Institute on the basis of comparable serum samples from individuals vaccinated with Sputnik V and Pfizer with similar levels of IgG antibodies and virus-neutralizing activity to the original Wuhan strain.

Thus, 74.2% of all blood serum samples vaccinated with Sputnik V neutralized the omicron strain, while only 56.9% of the Pfizer vaccine.

At the same time, within the sample sample with the highest 25% of RBD-specific IgG antibodies, 100% of those vaccinated with Sputnik V had antibodies neutralizing Omicron, while Pfizer — 83.3%.

Experts also named a number of reasons why Sputnik V produces stronger virus-neutralizing antibodies against Omicron. According to scientists, this is due to the heterogeneous (“prime-boost”) scheme at the heart of the domestic vaccine, a higher degree of imitation of SARS-CoV-2 by the adenoviral platform, as well as the formation of a wider spectrum of virus-neutralizing antibodies by Sputnik V, in contrast to the Pfizer vaccine. .

“Joint research of the Center.

Gamaleya and the Spallanzani Institute confirmed the results of our own study, published in December last year.

Scientific evidence suggests that Sputnik V provides superior virus neutralizing protection against the Omicron strain compared to other vaccines and will play a critical role in the global fight against this new contagious variant of the coronavirus,” said the Director of the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F.

Gamalei Alexander Gintsburg.

In addition, it is indicated that the data obtained by the Spallanzani Institute, as well as previous studies, have demonstrated that the use of Sputnik Light as a booster dose is one of the best solutions for prolonging the protective effect of other vaccines.

“Boosting Sputnik Light as part of a combination vaccine approach may help reduce the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against the Omicron strain, as well as the widely documented decrease in the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines in general against coronavirus. A partnership between adenoviral and mRNA vaccines could provide stronger protection against the Omicron strain and other strains of the coronavirus.

In this regard, the Sputnik Vaccine Development Team is calling for the immediate conduct of global open comparative trials of Sputnik Light and other COVID-19 vaccine boosters: this is the most effective approach to vaccination using combinations of vaccines.

The results of a study conducted in Italy confirm that Sputnik V provides the strongest defense against the omicron.

This was stated by Director General of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev.

“The adenoviral vector platform has shown high efficiency in the fight against coronavirus mutations in the past.

Heterogeneous boosting by Sputnik Light will help improve the effectiveness of other vaccines, and the partnership of various vaccine platforms plays a key role in connection with the challenges that arise due to the simultaneous presence of Delta and Omicron strains,” he stressed.

In turn, the Deputy Director of the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F.

Gamaleya Denis Logunov drew attention to the effectiveness of vaccines based on adenovirus vectors.

“The Spallanzani Institute is one of the leading European research centers. Our collaborative study provided a unique opportunity for independent analysis of various vaccine platforms against the Omicron strain. The adenovirus vector platform at the heart of Sputnik V and Sputnik Light has once again proved that this is the best solution for building strong and long-term immunity against coronavirus and its new strains,” Logunov said.

The use of the Sputnik V vaccine has been approved in more than 70 countries with a total population of more than 4 billion people, and Sputnik Light has been approved in more than 30 countries.

Both drugs are based on safe and proven human adenoviral vector technology for over 30 years and are not associated with serious adverse events such as myocarditis or pericarditis.

The high safety and effectiveness of Sputnik V and Sputnik Light has been confirmed by the results of more than 30 studies and vaccination data from more than 10 countries.