This review focuses on DNA and RNA vaccines whose potential use was first considered at the end of the 20th century. However, not a single bacterial plasmid-based or mRNA vaccine has been used since that time in public healthcare for the prevention of infectious diseases. Nevertheless, vaccines containing recombinant nucleic acids as the active ingredient still attract interest due to the possibility of rapid development, low-cost production, safety of the technology and the potential to activate cellular and humoral immunity. Recent technological advances have largely overcome the problems of low immunogenicity, instability, and difficulties with the delivery of DNA and RNA vaccines in humans. The aim of this review was to present the main strategies of development of DNA and RNA vaccines designed to prevent infectious diseases, and to summarise requirements for the quality control and preclinical studies. The article examines the general principles of creation of plasmid vectors encoding protective antigens. It describes new technologies used in the creation of DNA vaccines with plasmids encoding an attenuated virus genome (iDNA and PPLAV), and RNA vaccines based on mRNA and self-amplifying RNAs. The article presents current regulatory requirements for the choice of quality parameters to be tested and the general principles of preclinical studies of DNA and RNA vaccines.

Rotavirus infection is a widespread cause of severe gastroenteritis in children in low-income countries. Specific prophylaxis in young children has become the most important means of combating severe rotavirus gastroenteritis. The review presents current data on the molecular biology and genetic diversity of rotaviruses, interaction of viral proteins with host cell receptors, molecular aspects of infectivity and pathogenesis of rotavirus infection, and the development of immunity. It addresses a new approach to the epidemiology of rotavirus infection which regards it as a manageable infection, it illustrates the specificity of the epidemic process based on data gained from extensive experience in vaccination, and summarises relevant information on the introduction of rotavirus vaccines into the international healthcare practice. The paper summarises risks associated with the use of vaccines based on the analysis of WHO statistics, scientific publications on the epidemiology of rotavirus infection, and the results of vaccination. It analyses approaches of the competent authorities of some countries to the tactics of vaccination against rotavirus infection and the WHO stance on the use of existing vaccines for the prevention of rotavirus infection. A conclusion was made that it is necessary to further improve the tactics of vaccine prevention of rotavirus infection in Russia, to study the incidence of idiopathic intussusception, and to conduct further studies aimed at characterisation of existing and newly emerging genotypes of rotavirus.

Allergic reactions associated with sensitisation to metals are a common but underexplored problem. Due to the frequent use of metals and their alloys there has been an increase in the number of registered cases of allergic reactions. Recently there have been cases when allergic reactions were induced by metals that were previously considered absolutely inert and non-allergenic, such as gold, palladium and others. The aim of this work was to summarise scientific data on allergic reactions to metals and their diagnosis in humans. In medicine, alloys of nickel, palladium and gold are used in the manufacture of both surgical instruments and various implants used in orthopedics, endovascular surgery, gynecology and dentistry. Allergic reactions to these metals may lead to failure of artificial joints, thrombosis of endovascular stents, stomatitis, gingivitis, and dermatitis. The most frequent allergic reaction to metals is contact dermatitis which is most frequently caused by nickel. Metal allergies are diagnosed by skin tests. There are no Russian-made diagnostic systems for detecting metal allergies. The diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis is performed with the help of AllerTest test kit («TRUE Test», Denmark). Therefore, elaboration of a domestic diagnostic test for timely detection of allergies to metals is still relevant.

Marketing authorisation is a prerequisite for the use of drugs in medical practice in the Russian Federation. The marketing authorisation procedure is applicable to ordinary medicinal products. As for advanced therapy medicinal products containing viable human cells — there are currently two authorisations pathways: athorisation of biomedical cell products (BCPs) at the national level according to the Federal Law No. 180-FZ «On biomedical cell products», and authorisation of high-technology drugs (HTDs) in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The production, pre-clinical and clinical studies, expert evaluation and marketing authorisation procedures are regulated by different legal acts and differ significantly. The aim of the study was to perform comparative analysis of concepts, terms, production process requirements, designs of pre-clinical and clinical studies, and the marketing authorisation procedures for BCPs as defined in the Russian and EEU legislation. It should be noted that both the Federal Law No. 180-FZ and the EEU legislative framework are not currently used due to the lack of such drugs (somatic cell-based BCPs or HTDs). Therefore, at present, the choice of the procedure of obtaining marketing authorisation for drugs containing viable human cells has to be made by the manufacturer, until the Russian and EEU legal frameworks become harmonised.

Parenteral dosage forms are dissolved using sterile water for injection whose quality is regulated by special requirements. The lack of a monograph on sterile water for injection in the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation, as well as the concept of harmonisation of pharmacopoeial standards adopted by the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which promotes the development of a unified system of product quality attributes, test methods and means of control, support the need for and importance of the elaboration of a special document. The aim of the work was to study the possibility of harmonisation of Russian and international pharmacopoeial requirements for the quality control of sterile water for injection used as a solvent for medicinal products. The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of requirements of the nine leading world pharmacopoeias and pharmacopoeias of the EEU member states for the quality control of sterile water for injection (lists of test parameters, norms, test methods). The Russian and foreign requirements for the quality control of sterile water for injection differ both in terms of test parameters and test methods used. The analysis of monographs showed that the quality of sterile water for injection is controlled using 12–18 parameters. The most significant differences in the pharmacopoeial requirements of the EEU member states affect nine quality attributes. The authors propose approaches that are harmonised with international requirements and involve the use of more accurate modern test procedures, optimisation of the list of test parameters and establishment of impurity limits for containers with different capacities in order to prepare a monograph on sterile water for injection for inclusion into the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation and the EEU Pharmacopoeia.

The need to strengthen the post-approval regulation of biological products stems from their increasing role in the treatment of serious human diseases. Until recently, there were open questions on the classification of changes and supporting data necessary to confirm the comparability of a biological medicinal product before and after any changes, as well as on the procedures and deadlines for the submission and approval of variations. In October 2017 the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardisation developed and published the «Guidelines on procedures and data requirements for changes to approved biotherapeutic products». The WHO recommendations are primarily aimed at resolving the complexities and current problems in the global life cycle management of biotherapeutic products. Guidelines suggest approaches that ensure continued quality, efficacy, and safety of this group of products, as well as continuity in supply and access. The purpose of this paper was to analyse the WHO recommendations on post-approval changes to biotherapeutic products in order to develop harmonised approaches to the assessment of post-approval changes to biological medicinal products in the Russian Federation. The categories of quality changes, supporting data, conditions to be fulfilled, procedures and deadlines set forth in this paper can serve as a basis for further improvement of the national regulatory and methodological framework.

The evaluation of anticomplementary activity, being an obligatory component of the quality control of
human immunoglobulin preparations, requires the use of a number of reagents of biological origin that are difficult to standardise. In order to standardise the quality control method used for determination of antiсomplementary activity it is advisable to use a reference standard which demonstrates whether obtained results comply with the acceptance criteria, and helps to assess the stability of analytical performance. The aim of the study was to assess the stability of analytical performance of the test procedure used for determination of antiсomplementary activity of human immunoglobulin preparations using human immunoglobulin reference standards of various grades. Materials and methods: anticomplementary activity was determined by the complement fixation test in accordance with the general monograph of the State Pharmacopoeia of the Russian Federation (14th ed.) OFS.1.8.2.0007.15 using different batches of guinea pig complement and sheep red blood cells. The test procedure was standardised using the OSO 42-28-430-2018 human immunoglobulin reference standard and the human immunoglobulin BRP, batch 1 (cat. No. Y0001504). The obtained results of anticomplementary activity of the reference standards were used to construct Shewhart control charts, using the certified values as control limits. Results: the analysis of the constructed Shewhart charts helped to assess trends, and estimate the influence of different batches of guinea pig complement and sheep red blood cells on the stability of analytical performance of the test procedure used for determination of antiсomplementary activity of human immunoglobulin preparations. Conclusions: the use of the OSO 42-28-430-2018 reference standard in combination with Shewhart control charts for the quality control of human immunoglobulin preparations in terms of Anticomplementary activity makes it possible to control the testing process, and assess any of its changes associated with the replacement of the batch of the reagent. At the same time, the reference standard of the European Pharmacopoeia, which has a wide range of permissible values, can only be used to confirm the acceptance of the results. Further studies to determine the mean value of the anticomplementary activity of control samples, as well as the standard deviation, may increase the possibilities of using this reference standard for assessment of analytical performance stability.