The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Gamaleya Center have set up an International Scientific Advisory Board on the Sputnik V vaccine. And an Indian doctor is part of this 16-member board.

Vasanthapuram Ravi, Dean (Basic Sciences) at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), is part of the team of leading scientists in virology, microbiology, genetics and biotechnology from countries including Argentina, Croatia, France, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the US, a note from RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, said.

Scientific exchange

Kirill Dmitriev, RDIF Chief Executive, said the international platform was created so that vaccine developers could exchange information, opinions and expertise with their leading foreign colleagues. “This scientific exchange has become especially in demand due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection, a global problem that has stimulated the pooling of the entire global scientific and research potential.”

The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years, the RDIF said. It uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots, it added.

Over 1.5 million people have been vaccinated with Sputnik V and the developers are now working with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine, the RDIF said.

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