New Delhi, December 11: The UK based pharmaceutical AstraZeneca plans to start clinical trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed in collaboration with Oxford, in combination with with Russia’s Sputnik V, as per reports by Reuters. "This is aimed at boosting the efficacy of the British drugmaker’s vaccine," said RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, that funded the development of Sputnik V. The combined trials are reported to start by the end of this year. COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Update: UK to Test Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine in Combination With AstraZeneca-Oxford Vaccine.

In this regard, AstraZeneca issued a statement saying that it was considering how it could assess combinations of different vaccines, and would soon begin exploring with Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed Sputnik V, whether two common cold virus-based vaccines could be successfully combined. This comes as a pleasant development to Moscow, which has been looking forward to a western acceptance of its COVID-19 vaccine. India's COVID-19 Vaccine Status Tracker: A Look at SII, Bharat Biotech, Other Leading Candidates and Expected Dates of Launch.

The clinical trials of Sputnik V are still underway. However, accoring to the interim data the vaccine has shown an efficacy rate of over 90 per cent. Earlier this week,  the United Kingdom announced that it will start the clinical trials of Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine in combination with the Astrazeneca-Oxford vaccine."Studies aimed at determining whether using the two jabs together can enhance immunity are planned for next year," said UK.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2020 05:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).