The biopharmaceutical company Nanolek has submitted an application to conduct a clinical trial of a new chickenpox vaccine. The vaccine will appear in Russia thanks to the cooperation of Nanolek and the South Korean biopharmaceutical company GC Biopharma.

The permission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation will allow a clinical trial to be conducted at eight research centers, including the Clinical Institute of Child Health named after. N.F. Filatov Sechenov University of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Research Institute of Pediatrics and Children's Health, Russian National Research Medical University named after. N.I. Pirogov and the Children's Scientific and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases of the FMBA.

Elena Stukun, Deputy General Director, Director of Commercial Activities at Nanolek:

– In the very near future we expect permission from the Russian Ministry of Health to conduct a randomized clinical trial. Thus, registration of a new drug is expected within a year after its completion - at the end of 2026 - beginning of 2027.

Chickenpox is one of the most common infections in the world. It can cause severe complications, especially in children under one year of age and adults.

In accordance with the action plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Development of Immunoprevention of Infectious Diseases for the period up to 2035, the inclusion of vaccination against chickenpox in the National Vaccination Schedule (NVS) is planned for 2027. One of the main criteria for expanding the NVS is the organization of a full cycle of vaccine production at the production base of domestic enterprises. Currently, vaccines for the prevention of chickenpox are not produced in the Russian Federation. Thanks to Nanolek, chickenpox vaccination will become more accessible to Russian children.

According to the chief freelance specialist epidemiologist of the Russian Ministry of Health, deputy director for scientific work of the Institute of Public Health named after F.F. Erisman Sechenov University Roman Polibin, Sechenov University has a large clinical and material and technical base for conducting large-scale research and testing on the basis of institutes and the Clinical Center for Health Sciences of the university. The First Moscow State Medical University already has more than 200 approvals for clinical trials of new drugs and cooperates with all leading pharmaceutical manufacturers.