These days we have witnessed the publication in the prestigious journal The Lancet of the results of the clinical trial of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. These have caused a stir, since they position this vaccine as one of the most promising in the world. It took us by surprise. Here we will try to analyze why this event has been so unexpected in the western world.
Peculiarities of Russian science
Today’s Russian science is heir to the Soviet one and possesses peculiar characteristics. In the Soviet Union, science was one of the most prestigious activities. Scientists were at the highest part of the social pyramid, they were highly respected, they possessed certain privileges compared to other professions, and they were characterized by their great vocation and patriotism.
As the historian Nikolai Krementsov tells us in his essential book “Stalinist Science”, the Soviet science that was forged during Stalinism was very focused on practical questions and functioned as a tool in the hands of the State, with large, highly hierarchical Centers and Institutes, financed and managed directly by the Government and controlled by the Communist Party.
In this environment, scientists did not need to worry about bureaucracies or publishing their results in international journals. Thus, the country had an intellectual elite made up of the best brains. They were people who dedicated all their efforts to building models, obtaining results and, in the biomedical sphere, to curing diseases. Publishing was secondary. Although much of this has changed since the Soviet Union dissolved, it is logical that inertia and contrasts with the science of the rest of the world remain.
Where has the vaccine been developed?
The Gamaleya Institute for Research in Epidemiology and Microbiology, where the Sputnik V vaccine was developed, was privately founded in 1891 and nationalized in 1919. The date of foundation (it is one of the oldest research centers in Russia) shows the great tradition of Russian epidemiology and microbiology. It is currently the most important institution in the country in the field of epidemiology and has a headquarters in Moscow and nine associated centers. He is responsible for the Department of Infectious Diseases of the First Moscow State Medical University, the oldest and most important medical school in the country.
The Gamaleya Institute has already produced several vaccines. One against Ebola and another against MERS stand out, but they were never published in the international press. The reason (apart, perhaps, from the inertia of the Soviet era when not so much was published), was that the two epidemics ended abruptly. But Russian scientists accumulated important experience that has now been very useful to them.
What is the Sputnik V vaccine?
It is a vaccine based on an adenovirus, a type of virus that is already used in gene therapy and other vaccines and that usually causes mild infections such as the common cold. The genetic material of this adenovirus is manipulated so that it does not cause infection and to include the information of one of the proteins of the virus against which we want to protect with the vaccine. When this modified adenovirus is introduced into the cells, they produce the “extra” protein, in this case the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. The immune system of the person who has been vaccinated recognizes this protein as foreign and will remember it. If that person becomes infected with SARS-CoV-2, the immune system will destroy the viruses, preventing the development of the disease (Figure 1).
The problem is that our immune system also develops antibodies against the adenoviruses themselves, so usually only one dose is administered and the effectiveness decreases. We already know that a second dose strengthens the immune response. Of this type, “single dose”, is the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that will be approved soon.
To develop the AstraZeneca vaccine, Oxford University researchers came up with using a chimpanzee adenovirus so that the human body does not attack the adenovirus. For this reason, this vaccine is given two doses.
Well, the researchers at the Gamaleya Institute had a different idea to be able to administer two doses of the vaccine: to use two different types of human adenovirus, one for each dose. The work is twofold, but two doses can be administered and, in addition, the adenovirus will work better in humans and not in chimpanzees. And, as has happened, the efficacy is very high, superior to any of the other adenovirus vaccines that we have so far.
The reason for mistrust
So why have we all been suspicious of the Russian vaccine so far? Simply because we lacked information. Only when the data from phase III clinical trials were published have we had all the information in our hands. This information, accessible for review and discussion, marks the starting gun to request authorization from regulatory bodies and begin the vaccination campaign. However, in Russia and other countries they have been administering the Sputnik V vaccine for months. That is precisely why in the West there was mistrust: how can you vaccinate without knowing if the vaccine is safe and effective? Furthermore, we were unaware that similar vaccines against Ebola and MERS had previously been developed in Russia.
As we warned in a previous article, it seems that we have been suspicious and that the problem with the Russian vaccine was a lack of information, and not some intrinsic failure of the vaccine. Justified skepticism goes out the door if good science comes in through the window.
This episode will undoubtedly serve to restore respect for a science that once served as an example to the world with the space race, and that is on the way to recovering its international prestige with this vaccine so appropriately named for the occasion.
Matilde Cañelles López, Scientific Researcher. Science, Technology and Society and María Mercedes Jiménez Sarmiento, CSIC Scientist. Systems Biochemistry of the bacterial division. Scientific communicator, Margarita Salas Biological Research Center (CIB – CSIC)
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original.
