Russia has become the first country to have completed clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate, after Sechenov University said that it had concluded its study.
According to Sechenov University Center for Clinical Research on Medications head and chief researcher Elena Smolyarchuk, study data showed the vaccine candidate’s effectiveness, reported Russian news agency TASS.
Smolyarchuk was quoted by the news agency as saying: “The research has been completed and it proved that the vaccine is safe. The volunteers will be discharged on 15 July and 20 July.”
The trial participants will be monitored on an outpatient basis after being discharged.
Last month, Russia granted authorisation for clinical trials of two formulations of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate, which was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.
An intramuscular solution of the vaccine was tested at the Burdenko Military Hospital while Sechenov University assessed the vaccine in the form a powder for the preparation of an intramuscular solution.
The first stage of testing at the university commenced on 18 June in a group of 18 participants. The second group of the study involved 20 volunteers who were vaccinated on 23 June.
The Gamalei center’s head Alexander Gintsburg told the state-run TASS news agency that he hopes the vaccine will “enter civil circulation” on Aug. 12-14. He added that he hopes private companies would begin mass production by September.
“The research has been completed and it proved that the vaccine is safe,” Yelena Smolyarchuk, the head of Sechenov University’s clinical research center, told TASS of its trial.
