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Coronavirus pandemic

Chumakov Center to create COVID vaccine based on particles in insect cells, director says

It is possible to create new jabs on the basis of new strains based on the platform of inactivated whole-virion vaccines, Aydar Ishmukhametov also noted

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. The Chumakov Center is working on developing a vaccine for the protection against the coronavirus infection on the basis of virus-like particles in insect cells, Director of the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences Aydar Ishmukhametov said during the general meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) on Tuesday.

"Several years ago in South Africa we began work on developing vaccines on the basis of virus-like particles, that is, viral particles without genetic material. We worked out a range of various methods, including on the delivery of virus-like particles to cells, their isolation and detection. And currently we are working on creating a vaccine against COVID-19 on the basis of virus-like particles in insect cells," he said.

The scientist noted that it is possible to create new jabs on the basis of new strains based on the platform of inactivated whole-virion vaccines. From 2016 to 2021, the Chumakov Center has developed seven vaccines, including the BiVac Polio bivalent peroral vaccine and the PolioVaksin liquid vaccine against poliomyelitis, the Sinsavak vaccine for the prevention of yellow fever, the Evervac vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis and the CoviVac jab against coronavirus.

As reported earlier, the Chumakov Center had modernized the production of the whole-virion inactivated CoviVac vaccine against coronavirus by installing new biochemical reactors with the 1,000-liter capacity which allowed to substantially increase the production volumes of the vaccine and double the production plans announced earlier.

About the center

The Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences was created on the basis of the Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides of the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences. Its founder and the Institute’s first director (until 1972) was member of the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences Mikhail Chumakov.

Currently, the Chumakov Center is among the world leaders in medical virology, including the studies of poliomyelitis and other enterovirus infections, tick-borne encephalitis, coronavirus, and viral hepatitis. The Chumakov Center has its own biotechnological vaccine production line for the inoculation calendar.

The Center’s strategic partner in the vaccine production is the Nanolek biopharmaceutical company with which in July 2019 an agreement was signed on the establishment of the Invac joint venture to produce a full cycle of vaccines within the framework of immunizing Russian residents according to the national inoculation calendar.

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