Russia rebuffs claims of stealing AstraZeneca COVID vaccine formula
New York: Russia has rebuffed accusations that its spies stole the "blueprint" for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and used it to create its own Sputnik V jab.
It's "scientific nonsense", the head of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund), was quoted as saying.
This week, British security services alleged that Russian spies stole and hacked UK's Covid vaccine data, according to a report in The Sun. Several other reports alleged that UK security services told British ministers they had solid proof against Russia.
However, RDIF called it "fake" and a "blatant lie", the report said.
"There is no merit [to these claims] and we're very clear about this," Kirill Dmitriev was quoted as saying to CNBC on Wednesday.
"This report is complete scientific nonsense, it has zero merit and frankly it's a lie," he added.
Russia's Sputnik jab uses similar technology to the AstraZeneca-Oxford designed vaccine.
The security teams are sure it was copied and it is understood the data was stolen by a foreign agent in person, the newspaper claimed.
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