The Russian rotavirus vaccine Gam-VLP-rota has completed clinical trials and is now undergoing registration at the Ministry of Health, Alexander Gintsburg, Scientific Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, told TASS.
“The rotavirus vaccine being developed by the Gamaleya Institute is currently undergoing the registration procedure. At the moment, all clinical trials have been successfully completed,” he said. According to Gintsburg, the drug, based on virus-like particles (VLPs), “works very well,” and “there can be no complications with the vaccine.”
According to the State Register of Medicinal Products (GRLS), there is currently only one rotavirus vaccine available in Russia—Rota-V-Aid from India’s Serum Institute. Previously, RotaTeq from the American MSD (Merck & Co.) was imported into Russia, but the drug was removed from the GRLS in November 2024.
Unlike the global leaders RotaTeq and Rotarix (GSK), which use attenuated strains of live virus, Gam-VLP-rota is a protein-based vaccine (VLP — Virus-Like Particles). It consists of proteins that mimic the virus’s envelope, making the drug technologically closer to vaccines against hepatitis B and human papillomavirus (HPV).
