Huons said it would conduct a test to verify how strong the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine can protect people against the Delta variant.
The company and Korea University's Biosafety Center plan to confirm the preventive efficacy against the Delta variant with an animal model using a hamster for the first time in Korea. Delta variant is about 60 percent more transmissible and twice likelier to lead patients to develop severe symptoms than the original Covid-19 virus.
In August, Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko said the Sputnik V vaccine was 83 percent effective against the Delta variant. Murashko also pointed out that the Russian vaccine prevents the severe course of the Covid-19 infection by more than 95 percent.
Huons noted that the study had not been conducted in Korea yet. Still, it is worth trying to verify the efficacy of Sputnik V, which has received approval in 71 countries, against the globally dominant Covid-19 variant.
The joint research team will see whether Russia's vaccine shows similar protection in animal models against the variants, it added.
Huons has received the Sputnik V vaccine samples for animal testing against the Delta variant from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
If the study shows positive outcomes, researchers expect to confirm the study results by December and plan to proceed with in-depth follow-ups on cellular immunity.
"As we have the marketing rights of Sputnik V vaccine in Korea, we believed it is necessary to verify the effectiveness to respond to the Covid-19 variants and expand options for the public," Huons CEO Eom Gi-an said. "We expect to see positive results in the domestic animal tests conducted on the delta variant as global studies showed positive reports of Sputnik V vaccine against the Covid-19 infection."
Sputnik V is a Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute under Russia's health ministry.
Huons Global, the parent company of Huons, and its affiliate Humedix are manufacturing Sputnik V vaccines for global supply.