OREANDA-NEWS. The Russian Ministry of Health approved a study of a combination of vaccines against the coronavirus of the Russian drug Sputnik Light by the Gamaleya Center and the vaccines of the British-Swedish company and the University of Oxford AstraZeneca. This was reported by Kommersant.

The ministry clarified that the purpose of a joint clinical study of domestic and foreign vaccines is to study the safety and immunogenicity of a combination of drugs for the prevention of a new coronavirus infection COVID-19 in adults.

According to the TASS agency, joint research will continue until March 2, 2022, 150 patients will take part in them. The drug will be injected intramuscularly.

It is noted that the first and second stages of the study are supposed to be carried out in five medical organizations, including: A. A. Smorodintsev Research Institute of Influenza of the Ministry of Health of Russia, St. Petersburg State Medical University named after A.A. IP Pavlova and Medsi Group.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) commented on the approval of the Russian Ministry of Health to conduct clinical trials of the combination vaccine AstraZeneca and Sputnik V in an official statement.

The statement reads: "RDIF welcomes the approval by the RF Ministry of Health to conduct joint clinical trials on the combined use of the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine and the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca in Russia."

It follows from the letter that RDIF was the first in the world to initiate partnerships with other vaccine manufacturers and conduct joint research on the combination of Sputnik Light with other drugs.

The department also explained that the domestic vaccine can be used in combination with other vaccine preparations to increase their effectiveness, including against new strains that appear as a result of virus mutations.