The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has partnered with Hetero, an Indian pharmaceutical firm, to manufacture over 100 million doses annually of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 within India. This collaboration aims to significantly increase the production capacity of the vaccine and provide a readily available solution to combat the ongoing pandemic in India.
Production of Sputnik V is scheduled to begin in early 2021. This agreement follows the Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) approval for Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and RDIF to conduct adaptive phase II/III human clinical trials for the Sputnik V vaccine in India.
Ongoing Clinical Trials and Efficacy Data
Phase III clinical trials for Sputnik V are currently underway in Belarus, the UAE, Venezuela, and other countries, in addition to the Phase II-III trials in India. Interim clinical trial results have indicated a 95% efficacy rate on the 42nd day after the first dose. The Gamaleya Center and RDIF have announced that the cost of one dose of the vaccine for international markets will be less than USD 10.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, stated, "We are delighted to announce the agreement between RDIF and Hetero that will pave the way to production of the safe and highly effective Sputnik V vaccine on Indian soil. Thanks to our cooperation with Hetero, we will be able to significantly increase production capacity and provide people of India with an efficient solution in this challenging period of the pandemic."
Manufacturing and Global Supply
Requests for more than 1.2 billion doses of the Sputnik V vaccine have been received from over 50 countries. The vaccine supplies for the global market will be produced by RDIF’s international partners in India, Brazil, China, South Korea, and other countries.
B Murali Krishna Reddy, Director of International Marketing at Hetero Labs, commented, "We are pleased to collaborate with RDIF as a manufacturing partner for the most anticipated Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19. While we look forward to the clinical trial results in India, we believe that manufacturing the product locally is crucial to enable swift access to patients."
