Last checked at 
* Russia releases interim data soon after Pfizer and
BioNTech
* Data based on smaller number of infections vs Pfizer
* Stocks extend gains on results
(Adds more expert comment)
By Polina Ivanova
MOSCOW, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is 92%
effective at protecting people from COVID-19 according to
interim trial results, the country's sovereign wealth fund said
on Wednesday, as Moscow rushes to keep pace with Western
drugmakers in the race for a shot.
Russia's results are only the second from a late-stage human
trial, following on swiftly from data released on Monday by
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, which said their shot
was also more than 90% effective.
While experts said the Russian data was encouraging and
reinforced the idea the pandemic could be halted by vaccines,
they warned that the results were only based on a small number
of trial volunteers who had contracted COVID-19.
The analysis was conducted after 20 participants developed
the virus and examined how many had received the vaccine versus
a placebo. That is significantly lower than the 94 infections in
the trial of the vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
"I assume there was political pressure after the press
release from Pfizer and BioNTech earlier in the week to now draw
level with their own data," said Bodo Plachter, deputy director
of the Institute of Virology at the Mainz University. "What is
missing for now is an analysis of statistical significance."
To confirm the efficacy rate of its vaccine, Pfizer said it
would continue its trial until there were 164 COVID-19 cases.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has been
backing Sputnik V's development, said the Russian trial would
continue for six months.
Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Institute
which developed the vaccine, said the interim results
demonstrated that Sputnik V was effective and mass vaccinations
would be rolled out in Russia in the coming weeks.
European stocks and U.S. stock futures extended their gains
slightly after Russia's announcement though the reaction was far
more muted than after Pfizer's results.
'NOT A COMPETITION'
Successful vaccines are seen as a crucial to restoring daily
life around the world by helping end the pandemic that has
killed more than 1.26 million people, shuttered businesses and
put millions out of work.
However, experts said knowledge about the Russian trial's
design was sparse, making it hard to interpret the data.
Scientists have raised concerns about the speed at which
Moscow has worked, giving the regulatory go-ahead for the shot
and launching mass vaccinations before full trials to test its
safety and efficacy had been completed.
"This is not a competition. We need all trials to be carried
out to the highest possible standards and it is particularly
important that the pre-set criteria for unblinding the trial
data are adhered to avoid cherry picking the data," said Eleanor
Riley, a professor of immunology and infectious disease at the
University of Edinburgh.
"Anything less than this risks a public loss of trust in all
vaccines, which would be a disaster."
The results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial
participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine.
"We are showing, based on the data, that we have a very
effective vaccine," said RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev, adding that
it was the sort of news that the vaccine's developers would talk
about one day with their grandchildren.
The so-called Phase III trial of the shot is taking place in
29 clinics across Moscow and will involve 40,000 volunteers in
total, with a quarter receiving a placebo shot.
The chances of contracting COVID-19 were 92% lower among
people vaccinated with Sputnik V than those who received the
placebo, the RDIF said.
That's well above the 50% effectiveness threshold for
COVID-19 vaccines set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The RDIF said data from the study would be published in a
leading medical journal following a peer review. The results of
the early-stage Russian trials were peer reviewed and published
in September in The Lancet medical journal.
Experts said that as with the Pfizer results, it was not yet
clear how long immunity would last after taking the Russian
vaccine, nor how efficient it would be for different age groups.
"We certainly need longer-term observations to draw valid
conclusions about efficacy and side effects. The same goes for
Pfizer's and BioNTech's numbers," said Plachter in Mainz.
SPUTNIK V
The Russian drug is named Sputnik V after the Soviet-era
satellite that triggered the space race, a nod to the project's
geopolitical importance for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia registered the vaccine for public use in August, the
first country to do so, ahead of the start of the large-scale
trial in September.
So far, it has inoculated 10,000 members of the public
considered at high risk of contracting COVID-19 such as doctors
and teachers, outside of the trial.
The vaccine is designed to trigger a response from two shots
administered 21 days apart, each based on different viral
vectors that normally cause the common cold: human adenoviruses
Ad5 and Ad26.
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA)
technology and is designed to trigger an immune response without
using pathogens, such as actual virus particles.
Russia is also testing a different vaccine, produced by the
Vector Institute in Siberia, and is on the cusp of registering a
third, Putin said on Tuesday, adding that all of the country's
vaccines were effective.
RDIF said as of Nov. 11 no serious side effects had been
reported during the Sputnik V Phase III trial.
Some volunteers had short-term minor adverse events such as
pain at the injection site, flu-like syndrome including fever,
weakness, fatigue, and headache, it said.
In late October, the vaccination of new volunteers was
temporarily paused due to high demand and a shortage of doses.
Russia's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday that the
Vector Institute vaccine was expected to post-registration
trials on Nov. 15.
Russia reported 19,851 new coronavirus infections in the
past 24 hours and a record high of 432 deaths. At 1,836,960, its
overall case tally is the fifth largest in the world, behind the
United States, India, Brazil and France.
(Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Additional reporting by Kate
Kelland, Ludwig Burger, Josephine Mason and Thyagaraju
Adinarayan; Editing by David Clarke)
