The head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova by her order dismissed Rinat Maksyutov from the post of Director General of the State Scientific Center (SSC) of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”. On this subject informed RIA Novosti with reference to the press service of the department. “Vector” has created a vaccine against the coronavirus “EpiVakKorona”.
According to Rospotrebnadzor, Maksyutov’s dismissal was based on a violation of the law “On Combating Corruption” and “an identified conflict of interest”. By data According to Kommersant’s sources, the May 16 order lists “lack of measures to resolve and prevent conflicts of interest” and “loss of trust” as grounds for dismissal.
The employment contract with Maksyutov will be terminated on May 18 informed NGS.ru portal with a link to a copy of the order. Nikita Kanshin, Vector’s deputy general director for public relations, told Kommersant and NGS.ru that the center “will fulfill its obligations to study dangerous viruses, develop preventive and diagnostic drugs.” He also noted that the scientists “like they have worked, and will continue to work.”
Rinat Maksyutov is a doctor of biology, author and co-author of more than 70 scientific articles. The scientist has worked at Vector since 2003, and in 2016 he headed the center.
EpiVacCoron: Absence of Antibody Complaints and Conflicts of Interest
The Scientific Center “Vector” has developed a vaccine against the coronavirus based on peptide antigens “EpiVacCoron”. The drug was registered in October 2020, becoming Russia’s second COVID-19 vaccine after Sputnik V. EpiVacKorona entered civilian circulation since January 2021.
Many people vaccinated with the Vector vaccine have complained of not developing antibodies. In June 2021 Maksyutov recognized that almost half of the volunteers who received EpiVacCoron did not detect antibodies against the coronavirus after nine months.
Later that month, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the vaccine. He appointed “EpiVacCoron” is an alternative to “Sputnik V”, noting that the drug “does not even cause a temperature” or any reaction and “a person does not even notice that he has been vaccinated”. In July 2022, Putin awarded Rinat Maksyutov the Order of Pirogov for his active participation in the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
IN patent On EpiVacKorona, Rinat Maksyutov and Rospotrebnadzor chief Anna Popova are among the developers of the drug. In December 2021, Deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Nikolai Kolomeytsev asked the Speaker of the Lower House Vyacheslav Volodin to verify information about a possible conflict of interest “of officials who became co-owners patents for vaccines, and they also license their use.
The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov, responsible for studying the question, declared on the lack of conflict of interest of the head of Rospotrebnadzor when using the EpiVacCorona vaccine.
Zhukov referred to responses from the government and the Vector Center. As a result, the developers of EpiVacCorona do not receive royalties for the use of their invention, and the certificate of state registration of vaccines is issued by Roszdravnadzor, and not by Rospotrebnadzor.
At the beginning of 2022, Vedomosti wrote that the Ministry of Health had suspended the purchase of EpiVacCorona due to its unpopularity and technical difficulties.
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