UAE Health and Prevention of the approves Phase III clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine in the UAE

Moscow, October 12, 2020 – The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention has approved Phase III clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine to take place in the UAE.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is supported by the UAE’s leading laboratory provider PureHealth, on the UAE trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, which was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

The trials will be supervised by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health and the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, while medical protocols will be handled by Abu Dhabi’s public health provider, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA).

The UAE trials form part of the third phase of the Sputnik V vaccine trial, in line with trials taking place in Russia and Belarus.

Results from the first two stages of the trial were published in leading medical journal The Lancet and showed a stable humoral and cellular immune response had been achieved in 100 percent of volunteers, with no serious adverse events recorded.

Conducted in line with the highest international standards, volunteers for the UAE trial will be medically supervised for 90 days after taking the Sputnik V vaccine.

UAE Minister for Health HE AbdulRahman bin Mohammed Al Owais said: “The UAE is an outstanding destination in which to trial a COVID-19 vaccine such as Sputnik V, thanks to the diverse nature of its populace.

“People from more than 200 nations live and work in the UAE, across a wide range of socio-economic demographics and age groups. The UAE also has world-class medical infrastructure, including cutting edge digital technologies that can be harnessed to progress a trial.

“The UAE is committed to the global fight against COVID-19 and we are pleased to play our part in enabling promising solutions and progress.”

Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev said: “The UAE has demonstrated one of the most advanced approaches in the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are pleased to have received approval to commence the trials and we look forward to announcing in due course the registration process for volunteers.

“As part of the Phase III trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, we are planning to expand in several other countries over the coming months, and we are delighted that the UAE will be the first country in which we do so in the Middle East.”

The results of the UAE trial will be combined with the results of the of the trial in Russia and other countries, in which more than 40,000 volunteers are participating. The interim results will be released before the end of November.

The Sputnik V vaccine, the world’s first vaccine against COVID-19, was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia on August 11, 2020.