[note 2] Founded in 1891 by Filipp Markovich Blyumental,[4] it is named after Soviet scientist Nikolay Fyodorovich Gamaleya (1859–1949), famed as a pioneer in microbiology and in vaccine research.

[14] Protest developed in the international scientific community over the announcement of the vaccine registration in Russia, mainly because there has been no publication of results from clinical trials on Gam-COVID-Vac.

[15][17] On 4 September 2020, data on 76 participants in the Phase I-II trial were published, indicating preliminary evidence of safety and an immune response.

[18] Days later, however, the results were challenged by 27 international vaccine scientists as being incomplete, suspicious, and unreliable, when identical data were reported for many of the trial participants.

[19] On 2 February 2021, results of Phase III clinical trials involving 21,977 participants in Moscow were published in The Lancet, showing 91.6% efficacy of the vaccine,[20] and therefore responding, even if with considerable delays, to previous criticism.