Aspects and issues of marketing authorisation and use of medicinal products for COVID-19 prevention during the pandemic.

At the end of 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus began in the city of Wuhan (Hubei Province) in the People's Republic of China. The outbreak turned into a pandemic. In the shortest possible time, national and international manufacturers developed preventive COVID-19 vaccines, and the population was vaccinated. During pandemics, accelerated approval of vaccines is an important factor that shortens the time to market with the aim of mass vaccination. The experience of rapidly developing and introducing vaccines into routine practice is not only important for managing the current pandemic, but also valuable in case of extremely likely future ones. The aim of this study was to analyse the main issues associated with assessing the safety and efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19 prevention during their registration and widespread use amid the pandemic and ongoing SARS-CoV-2 evolution. The vaccines for COVID-19 prevention were developed and introduced into healthcare practice very rapidly and under the circumstances of the pandemic, and the use of these vaccines has surfaced a number of concerns requiring further research. The most important issues identified in the performed analysis include, but are not limited to the need for accelerated assessment of the safety and immunogenicity of new vaccines;the lack of immune correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2;the waning of antibody immunity over time, motivating the need to determine revaccination and post-recovery vaccination timelines;and the emergence of mutant SARS-CoV-2 variants. One of noteworthy aspects is the need to develop recommendations for updating the strain composition of registered COVID-19 vaccines. According to the conclusions, the level of herd immunity, including vaccine-induced protection, plays a certain role in virus evolution during the pandemic. If COVID-19 becomes seasonal, which is a probable scenario, regular revaccination can be essential.Copyright © 2023 Safety and Risk of Pharmacotherapy. All rights reserved.

Aspects and issues of marketing authorisation and use of medicinal products for COVID-19 prevention during the pandemic

At the end of 2019, an outbreak of a new coronavirus began in the city of Wuhan (Hubei Province) in the People's Republic of China. The outbreak turned into a pandemic. In the shortest possible time, national and international manufacturers developed preventive COVID-19 vaccines, and the population was vaccinated. During pandemics, accelerated approval of vaccines is an important factor that shortens the time to market with the aim of mass vaccination. The experience of rapidly developing and introducing vaccines into routine practice is not only important for managing the current pandemic, but also valuable in case of extremely likely future ones. The aim of this study was to analyse the main issues associated with assessing the safety and efficacy of vaccines for COVID-19 prevention during their registration and widespread use amid the pandemic and ongoing SARS-CoV-2 evolution. The vaccines for COVID-19 prevention were developed and introduced into healthcare practice very rapidly and under the circumstances of the pandemic, and the use of these vaccines has surfaced a number of concerns requiring further research. The most important issues identified in the performed analysis include, but are not limited to the need for accelerated assessment of the safety and immunogenicity of new vaccines;the lack of immune correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2;the waning of antibody immunity over time, motivating the need to determine revaccination and post-recovery vaccination timelines;and the emergence of mutant SARS-CoV-2 variants. One of noteworthy aspects is the need to develop recommendations for updating the strain composition of registered COVID-19 vaccines. According to the conclusions, the level of herd immunity, including vaccine-induced protection, plays a certain role in virus evolution during the pandemic. If COVID-19 becomes seasonal, which is a probable scenario, regular revaccination can be essential.

The efficacy of medicinal products based on plasma immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19

The development of the COVID-19 pandemic initiated the search for effective drugs for the treatment and prevention of infection. Of particular importance for the fight against the pandemic is the timing of the introduction of drugs into clinical practice. Therefore, countries with developed healthcare systems (EU, USA, Russian Federation, etc.), issue conditional marketing authorizations of drugs for treatment and prevention of COVID-19, based on regulatory requirements for the circulation of medicines in emergency situations. The approval is issued on the basis of limited clinical data, with the condition that the full evaluation of safety and effectiveness will be carried out after the issuance of the authorization in the post-registration period. The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the design and time frame of clinical trials, including phase I, II, and III adaptive trials, which has led to the approval of biologics for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in record time in most advanced pharmaceutical countries. At the same time, regulatory/healthcare authorities or international organizations constantly monitor the safety and effectiveness of used drugs and, if necessary, make adjustments (changes to the indications for use, dosage change, drug discontinuation etc.). Since the beginning of the pandemic, in fact, in conditions where the use of medicines was allowed based on very limited data, studies have begun to substantiate the safety and effectiveness of the use of immunoglobulin preparations and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. As new data became available, changes were made regarding the indications for use, doses, and other characteristics of preparations of immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. The review presents a critical analysis of the results of evaluation the safety and effectiveness of the use of immunoglobulin preparations and monoclonal antibodies in a pandemic. Copyright © 2022 Meditsina Publishers. All rights reserved.

General characteristics of adjuvants and their mechanisms of action (part 2)

One of the major public health challenges today is development of new vaccines and technologies to optimize the vaccination process. There is a growing scientific interest in vaccine adjuvants that enhance vaccine immunogenicity. At present, numerous studies are underway to develop COVID-19 vaccines, including inactivated and subunit vaccines which contain adjuvants for efficient induction of immune response and solid immunity. The aim of the study was to systematise literature related to the analysis of the structure, mechanisms of action and stimulating properties of vaccine adjuvants (synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides, virosomes, polyoxidonium, sovidone), as well as to summarise data on the effects of adjuvants used in SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARSCoV- 2 vaccine development studies. The paper analyses the prospects for enhancing the stimulating effect of the adjuvants when used in combination with compounds having a different mechanism of action. It also analyses the results of studies of adjuvanted vaccines against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, which may be useful when selecting adjuvants with optimal efficacy and safety profiles to be used in SARS-CoV-2 vaccines under development. It was concluded that understanding of the mechanisms of action of adjuvants that mediate their stimulating effect on the body s immune system will contribute to safe and effective use of adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of both authorised and new vaccines.

Russian and international regulatory recommendations for the development and marketing authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines in the context of the pandemic

The progress of the COVID-19 pandemic initiated research to develop vaccines against this novel coronavirus infection. The WHO and national regulatory authorities in many countries have elaborated guidelines to speed up the development and authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines. The aim of the study was to analyse international and Russian regulatory recommendations for the development and fast-track approval of COVID-19 vaccines in the context of the pandemic, as well as to summarise the preliminary published results of the first stages of preclinical and clinical studies. The paper analyses approaches to fast-track approval of medicines in the face of the pandemic in Russia, the European Union, and the United States. It summarises regulatory requirements for the quality of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as for preclinical, and clinical studies. It describes the first results of COVID-19 vaccine development. The analysed regulatory documents allow for accelerated authorisation due to reduction of time spent on evaluation of vaccine quality, safety, and efficacy. Another option is the so-called conditional marketing authorisation when a vaccine is registered based on incomplete preclinical and clinical data provided that all the studies will be completed after the vaccine authorisation. The paper summarises the results of clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines. The few published preliminary results of the first phases of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials demonstrate the vaccines' good tolerability, safety, and immunogenicity. Evaluation of adenovirus-based vaccines showed that almost half of the volunteers had had high antibody titers to adenovirus before the study, which resulted in milder adverse reactions and low immunogenicity. In addition, the immune response was weaker in the older group of subjects (45-60 years) as compared to the subjects younger than 45 years. The results of the analysis of regulatory requirements for the development and marketing authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines in the context of the pandemic, as well as of national and international regulatory approaches to vaccine development and authorisation can be used as a basis for the development of Russian requirements for COVID-19 vaccines in the context of the pandemic.