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Russia Says No Need to Steal Western Coronavirus Research

Jamie Dettmer

   Russia still expects a tentative agreement with a multinational
   pharmaceutical company to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine under
   development with Oxford University to move forward, despite accusations
   Russia has been trying to steal vaccine data, the head of Russia's
   wealth fund said Friday in an interview with Reuters.

   Kirill Dmitriev denied the allegations and said Russia did not need to
   steal secrets because it already reached a preliminary deal with
   AstraZeneca to manufacture the British vaccine in Russia and that the
   agreement could be finalized Friday.

   "There's nothing that needs to be stolen," Dmitriev said. "It's all
   going to be given to Russia."

   U.S., British and Canadian officials accused the Kremlin Thursday of
   being behind a massive and ongoing cyber hack aimed at stealing from
   Western pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions doing
   research into coronavirus vaccines and treatment therapies.

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