Little is known about the four vaccines of Russian origin

Over the past 75 years, Vietnam and Russia have cooperated in many fields such as defense, science, technology, and health. Russian experts also made important contributions in the field of vaccines, of which two types were technology transferred and imported in many countries.

Doctor Le Thi Truc Phuong, medical specialist of VNVC vaccination center system, reviews the achievements in vaccine production and development cooperation in Russia that Vietnam has enjoyed.

Oral polio vaccine

In the mid-20th century, the poliovirus was found globally, killing or paralyzing more than half a million people each year. The 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, also suffered from this disease, paralyzing from the waist down.

In the early 1950s, the first inactivated polio vaccine was invented by American doctor Jonas Salk. At the same time, scientist Albert Sabin created a live attenuated vaccine that could be taken orally, in the form of drops or sugar pills. However, when Salk “covered” widely, the US Government was not too interested in the new Sabin line.

Therefore, Sabin cooperated with Soviet scientists Mikhail Chumkov and Anatoly Smorodintsev to continue developing the vaccine in Moscow. Several thousand doses were shipped from the US in regular suitcases and the first vaccinations were administered to relatives, friends, and their children and grandchildren.

In 1958-1959, more than 10 million Soviet children were tested, proving that the Sabin vaccine was safe and effective. In 1960, 77.5 million people in this country received the vaccine.

In 1963, Mikhail Chumkov and Anatoly Smorodintsev received the Lenin Prize. The world’s leading scientists from the US, Japan, Europe, and China attend the annual symposium at the Institute of Polio and Viral Encephalitis, part of the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences. Vaccines produced by the Institute are then exported to 60 countries and territories.

In Vietnam, in the period 1957-1959, polio broke out into an epidemic in the North, with up to 500 deaths and 17,000 pediatric patients. Every year, tens of thousands of children suffer lifelong paralysis.

Thanks to Sabin oral vaccine, in 1961, the incidence of polio decreased from 126.44/100,000 people to 3.09/100,000. To proactively prevent, the Provisional Government required the production of polio vaccine. Professor Hoang Thuy Nguyen received orders to go to the Soviet Union to receive technology transfer for oral polio vaccine production.

In 1962, Vietnam successfully produced Sabin live attenuated polio vaccine using primary monkey kidney cell culture technology, supported by Soviet experts. The morbidity and mortality rates continued to decrease, not epidemic occurs.

Thanks to the implementation of polio vaccine in the expanded vaccination program, with over 95% of children receiving it, Vietnam was recognized by WHO as “polio-free in 2000”.

Vaccine Sputnik V

After AstraZeneca, on March 23, 2021, the Ministry of Health conditionally approved Russia’s Gam-Covid-Vac vaccine (also known as Sputnik V) to prevent and control Covid-19.

In September of the same year, Vietnam began producing the Sputnik V vaccine. As of December 4, 2021, our country received more than 1.5 million doses for people.

Sputnik V is developed based on the adenovirus vector platform, inserting gene fragments from Sars-CoV-2 into a modified adeno virus to stimulate the response of immune cells. People get two shots three weeks apart.

Previously, from August 11, 2020, the Russian Ministry of Health deployed Sputnik V vaccination across the country. According to phase three clinical trial results published in The Lancet, the vaccine is 91.6% effective, especially for volunteers over 60 years old, this rate reached 91.8%. After vaccination, 98% of cases produced antibodies against the Sars CoV-2 virus.

Vaccines are widely used globally. As of March 2021, more than 50 countries have approved Sputnik.

Vaccines treat cancer

At the Future Technology Forum in Moscow in February, President Putin described cancer vaccine development in the country as approaching something previously considered “science fiction”.

According to the Russian Medical and Biological Agency, using antigens with altered composition in vaccines is not in accordance with current regulations. Scientists face the problem of producing and supplying vaccines, because Russia only has a few qualified facilities such as the Blokhin Cancer Center and the Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnology (Moscow). The unit hopes that by minimizing legal pressure, vaccine technology will attract domestic private investors with enough finance to launch a cancer vaccine in three years.

In the immediate future, the Russian Federal Agency for Health and Biology proposes to allow the production and application of drugs containing changed ingredients, effective this September. They also require the patent holder to do so.

In the world, there are five potential cancer vaccine candidates being tested. Among them, mRNA-4157 was researched by pharmaceutical companies Merck and Moderna, certified by FDA (USA) and CE (Europe) for adjuvant treatment of melanoma, and could be launched in 2025.

Vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)

Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral infection of the central nervous system, mainly transmitted through tick bites. To date, the disease is present in more than 35 European and Asian countries.

In Vietnam, the disease is also called tick fever, recorded all year round but mainly in the rainy season (April to October), peaking in June and July. People specializing in land reclamation, soldiers marching and practicing picnics or going to mountainous areas or fields are susceptible to diseases. Infection can occur from consuming milk from infected, unpasteurized cows, goats or sheep.

The disease is easily misdiagnosed with flu, malaria, dengue fever, sepsis… Patients need to be treated early to avoid dangerous complications such as encephalitis, meningitis, myocarditis, and cardiovascular collapse. , superinfected pneumonia, pulmonary edema, nephritis, multiple organ failure… One in every three infected people will have long-term sequelae, lasting several months or even a year. They face the risk of cognitive changes, muscle weakness or permanent paralysis.

Vaccines against TBE have been available in Russia since 1939. A year earlier, scientists researched the first generation TBE vaccine – the first “rat brain” inactivation from the TBEV subgroup in the Far East. Effectiveness reaches 98% but can cause serious side effects.

In the period 1950-1960, the second generation TBE vaccine was born, culturing chicken embryo cells to propagate the virus. The vaccine was upgraded in 1961-1966 and tested in Western Siberia. The year 1980 welcomed the third generation of freeze-dried, pure, concentrated products.

Currently, EnceVir is produced in Russia, is one of four types that can prevent tick-borne diseases, and is recommended by WHO for vaccination of all ages, including children when the epidemic is circulating.

This line has two popular versions, produced by Microgen, including: EnceVir Neo – injection for children 3-17 years old, is a sterile concentrate mixture containing formalin-inactivated tick-borne virus (strain 205); EnceVir – injection for people 18 years and older.

Russia also has another inactivated vaccine, Kleshch-E-vak, produced by the Chumkov Institute of Polio and Viral Encephalitis (Russia), administered to children from one year old.

According to a study published in 2023 on the US National Library of Medicine, the protective effectiveness of vaccines against tick-borne diseases, including EnceVir and Kleshch-E-vak, is over 90%, the highest being 98.9 %. Besides, a booster shot three years after the basic dose can prolong the effectiveness.

In addition, Russia also produces a series of vaccines to serve domestic needs such as measles, mumps, single rubella and a combination of three diseases in one injection; rabid; prevent diphtheria – pertussis – tetanus; tuberculosis; gonorrhea; tetravalent inactivated influenza…