A top Russian official said his country could roll out a vaccine against covid-19 as soon as September, while denying accusations that hackers working for the country's intelligence agency tried to steal sensitive data from rival researchers in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
"Russia may be one of the first to produce a vaccine against the backdrop of the billions that are being invested in the U.S. and all the pharma companies working on it," said Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive of the government-backed Russian Direct Investment Fund [RDIF], which is financing one of the country's efforts to devise a vaccine. "It's a little bit of a shocking story."
President Vladimir Putin has made finding a vaccine a top priority.
Russia has recorded more than 750,000 covid-19 cases, making it the fourth most-affected country in the world. In Russia's race to be the first to find a vaccine against covid-19, it's taking an approach that would be shunned in other countries, claiming it will know in just three months of trials whether its leading candidate works.
If Russia proclaims success in the hunt for a vaccine before other candidates, it could create a world of dueling vaccines and geopolitical battles over who gets supplies.
Dmitriev's comments came after the U.K., U.S. and Canada said hackers working with the group APT29, part of Russian military intelligence, had used malware to try to seize vaccine research. Dmitriev said Russia had no need to steal information from rival vaccine developers because it had already signed a deal with AstraZeneca Plc to manufacture the University of Oxford's covid-19 vaccine at R-Pharm, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Russia.
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He said AstraZeneca is transferring the entire technological process and all ingredients for the full reproduction of the vaccine in Russia.
"Everything that is needed to produce the British vaccine has already been transferred to R-Pharm," he said. "AstraZeneca has already signed commitments to transfer all production of the British vaccine to R-Pharm."
AstraZeneca didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
It isn't clear whether AstraZeneca would transfer all the technology needed for Russia to produce the vaccine or if the agreement involves the British pharma giant sending the vaccine seed stock to manufacturers needed to begin production.
Some Western experts remain skeptical that Russia has the expertise to produce its own vaccine by September.
"We don't think that's realistic," said Peter Shapiro, a pharmaceutical analyst at the research firm GlobalData, cautioning that Russia, like other countries, could approve the vaccine for political reasons. "The regulatory hurdles in Russia are low."
Nor is it likely that such a vaccine, if indeed approved in Russia, would find favor in the West, Shapiro said.
"We don't see a history of innovative vaccines being developed in Russia that win approval" in major markets like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe, he said. "Russia is not a major producer of export quality drugs or biologics."
The U.S., Western Europe and China have all set up research programs and supply chains for covid-19 vaccine production. While the negotiations with AstraZeneca offer Russia the chance for doses of the Oxford vaccine if it proves successful, the global battle to secure supplies could leave Russia struggling to access other potentially successful vaccines, increasing pressure to advance its own program.