The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Sistema PJSFC and the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology have agreed to cooperate to organise a production site at the Alium plant in Zelenograd in the Moscow region, for the large-scale production of the first vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus infection in Russia.
A distinctive characteristic of the vaccine is its ability to reduce the time taken for the development of immunity to the virus. According to the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the first vaccination leads to humoral cellular immunity, and after the second one, memory cells are formed – one of the key features of a vaccine. The first clinical trials of the vaccine are expected to begin in mid-June 2020. The launch of mass production of the vaccine is anticipated by autumn 2020.
The Alium holding was established in October 2019 as a result of a merger between the pharmaceutical companies Obolenskoe and Binnopharm. Following the merger, Alium is among Russian’s top-10 pharmaceutical companies.
The Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology completed preclinical studies of an experimental sample of a vaccine against coronavirus and was one of the first to do so, not only in Russia but globally. The results of preclinical studies on monkeys and hamsters confirm the effectiveness and safety of the drug.
In 2015-2019, the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology created an effective vaccine against the Ebola virus, as well as a vaccine against the MERS virus (the Middle East respiratory syndrome)...
Full text at GMPnews.Net