Investor says vaccine production should primarily meet domestic demand.

The Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V could be launched in Russia in late October to early November, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said on October 12.

“We believe the vaccine can start being widely used in Russia by late October or early November,” he said. Dmitriev emphasized that vaccine production is primarily aimed at meeting domestic demand.

Simultaneously, the head of the RDIF hopes the Russian vaccine will be launched in the Middle East as soon as November. “Without a doubt, we also hope the Russian vaccine can be approved and put on the market in November, especially in the Middle East,” he said, stressing that Sputnik V is the first vaccine in the world in terms of approval and the interest it has elicited.

On August 11, Russia became the first country in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine called Sputnik V, developed by the Russian Ministry of Health’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. The injection was clinically tested in June and July. The vaccine is based on a well-known platform on which many other injections have been produced.

Belarus was the first foreign country to initiate clinical trials of this breakthrough vaccine. RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev also named the United Arab Emirates as one of the countries planning similar tests.

Currently, around 165 different vaccines against COVID-19 are being developed worldwide. Major types of vaccines include vector-based vaccines, inactivated nucleic acid-based vaccines (DNA and mRNA), and protein-based recombinant vaccines. The vaccine based on the Russian adenovirus vector was registered by the Russian Ministry of Health on August 11, 2020 and is the first registered COVID-19 vaccine on the market. The announcement created what the world community called a “Sputnik moment.”

In 1957, the successful launch of the first space satellite by the Soviet Union signaled the launch of space exploration. That is why the new Russian COVID-19 vaccine is called Sputnik V.

Vectors are vehicles that can transport genetic material from another virus into a cell. In Sputnik V, the adenovirus gene that causes infection is removed, while a gene containing the code of a protein from another viral tip is inserted. This element is harmless to the body. At the same time, it helps the immune system to react and produce antibodies that protect people from infection.

The adenovirus-based vector platform makes it easier and faster to produce new vaccines by modifying the original carrier vector with genetic material from emerging viruses, which helps develop new vaccines in a relatively short time. Such vaccines trigger a strong reaction of the human immune system.

Human adenoviruses are considered one of the easiest viruses to develop and are therefore common as vectors.

After the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian researchers extracted a fragment of the genetic material of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which encodes information about the structure of the spike S protein that forms the crown of the virus and is responsible for connecting it to human cells. They inserted it into a known adenovirus vector to channel it into a human cell, thus developing the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine.

To ensure long-term immunity, Russian scientists developed the groundbreaking idea of using two different types of adenovirus vectors (rAd26 and rAd5) for the first and second vaccinations, thereby increasing the vaccine’s effectiveness.

The use of human adenoviruses as vectors is safe because these viruses that cause common cold are not new and have been around for thousands of years.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund is Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, established in 2011 to invest together with renowned international financial and strategic investors, primarily in Russia. The RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in Russia’s economy. The management company of the RDIF is located in Moscow. The RDIF currently has experience in the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners, totaling more than 1.9 billion rubles and covering 95 percent of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues equivalent to more than six percent of Russia’s GDP (gross domestic product). The RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries with a total volume of over USD40 billion.