A study has found that two doses of Sputnik V provide two times higher virus neutralising antibodies against the Omicron variant of COVID-19 than two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on 20 January.

The study was conducted at the Italian Spallanzani Institute on comparable groups of sera from individuals vaccinated with Sputnik V and Pfizer. "The joint study by the Gamaleya Center and Spallanzani Institute confirmed the results obtained in our separate study published in December 2021.

"The hard scientific data proves Sputnik V has higher virus-neutralising activity against Omicron as compared to other vaccines and will play a major role in the global fight against this new contagious variant," Gamaleya Center Director Alexander Gintsburg said in a statement.

Citing study findings, Gamaleya Center and RDIF noted that boosting with Sputnik Light as part of the "mix and match" approach may help address the lower efficacy of mRNA vaccines against Omicron as well as the documented, quickly waning, efficacy of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Partnerships between adenoviral and mRNA vaccines could provide for stronger protection against Omicron and other variants, they stated. Based on the data collected by the Spallanzani Institute and results of previous studies, heterologous boosting with Sputnik Light is the best solution to increase other vaccines' efficacy and extend the booster protection period, they stated.

"Results of the study in Italy confirm Sputnik V offers the strongest protection against Omicron. The adenoviral platform has shown high efficacy in fighting mutations of COVID previously. "Partnership of different platforms is the key and heterologous ("mix & match") boosting with Sputnik Light will help strengthen efficacy of other vaccines in light of combined Delta and Omicron challenge," RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.

The Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and RDIF.