WHO views 9 of Russian COVID-19 vaccines as promising

The World Health Organization (WHO) has included nine coronavirus vaccines that are being created in Russia on a list of promising options, according to a statement from the Russian government’s coronavirus hotline.

"The WHO has put nine COVID-19 vaccines that are being developed in Russia on its list of promising options. These include six vaccines created by the Novosibirsk-based Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology… two vaccines developed by the Biocad company… and a vaccine made by the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Vaccines and Serums," the statement reads.

According to the hotline, one of Vector’s versions is a peptide vaccine based on a platform that was previously used for creating a vaccine against the Ebola virus. Along with that, a subunit vaccine, a live vector vaccine based on the measles virus, a recombinant intranasal vaccine based on the influenza A virus, a vector vaccine based on the vesicular stomatitis virus and an mRNA vaccine are in the works, TASS reported.

Biocad has developed a live viral vector vaccine based on an attenuated flu virus (together with the Institute of Experimental Medicine) and a liposome encapsulated vaccine. The St. Petersburg Research Institute of Vaccines and Serums, in turn, has come up with a vaccine based on recombinant protein and nanoparticles.