Researchers highlight ‘questionable’ data in Russian coronavirus vaccine trial results

Researchers highlight ‘questionable’ data in Russian coronavirus vaccine trial results



Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is the first to be approved for widespread use. (Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty)

Red flags in Russian vaccine-trial results

A group of researchers has raised concerns about early-phase clinical-trial data for Russia’s coronavirus vaccine. The jab, called Sputnik V, is the first to be approved for widespread use. In an open letter to The Lancet, which published the trial results this month, the researchers highlight values that seem to be duplicated, and warn that the paper presents its results only as box plots without providing a detailed breakdown of the data on which the graphs are based. “We are not alleging scientific misconduct, but asking for clarification about how these apparently similar data points came about,” says science-integrity advocate Enrico Bucci. The Russian paper’s lead author, Denis Logunov, told Russian media that there were no errors in the publication and he did not intend to respond to the open letter.

Nature | 4 min readReference: The Lancet paper & Open letter