BackSII to produce 300 million doses of Sputnik V jabs annually
For SII, this is the third covid vaccine that it will contract manufacture at its facilities in Pune, after Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca and Oxford jab, and Covovax, a version of the vaccine developed by US-based Novavax
PremiumNEW DELHI : Russia’s sovereign wealth fund on Tuesday said it signed a manufacturing pact with Serum Institute of India (SII), through which the world’s largest vaccine maker will produce more than 300 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine a year.
“We hope to make millions of doses in the coming months, with trial batches starting in the month of September. With high efficacy and a good safety profile, it is critical that the Sputnik vaccine is accessible in full measure for people across India and the world," Serum Institute chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla was quoted as saying in a Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) note.
For SII, this is the third covid vaccine that it will contract manufacture at its facilities in Pune, after Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca and Oxford jab, and Covovax, a version of the vaccine developed by US-based Novavax.
SII is also developing and conducting trials in the UK for a jab with Codagenix.
For RDIF, SII is the seventh Indian partner for Sputnik V after Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma, Virchow Biotech and Morepen Laboratories. SII’s 300 million jabs will take up the number of Sputnik V doses annually produced in India to over 1.1 billion.
“This strategic partnership is a major step to substantially increase our production capabilities, demonstrating a perfect example of joining forces and expertise to save lives both in India and around the world," RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said.
Besides the manufacturing pacts, RDIF also has an exclusive distribution deal in India for Sputnik V with Hyderabad-based drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. Under the pact, Dr Reddy’s can sell 250 million doses in India. However, Dr Reddy’s is struggling to kickstart its commercial launch as most partner companies, barring Panacea Biotec, are yet to start commercial production, and there is a high dependence on imports from Russia.
Dr Reddy’s was expected to start commercial launch in mid-June, but it is still in the soft-launch phase, although the soft-launch has been expanded to include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai.
A spokesperson for Dr Reddy’s said on Tuesday, “Neither the ongoing soft launch nor work towards its ramp-up in India have been put on hold" and that it will strengthen the commercial launch in the coming weeks.
Based on real-world data from Russia between December and March, Sputnik V was found to be 97.6% effective in preventing covid-19 and is safe.
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