Sputnik V vaccine: Russia says Panacea Biotec to make 100 mn doses in India annually

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund), and Panacea Biotec today announced to produce 100 million doses per year of covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

"Production of Sputnik V at Panacea Biotec sites will help facilitate global supply of Sputnik V to international partners of RDIF," a company release said.

"To date, Sputnik V has been registered in 59 countries globally with total population of over 1.5 billion people. The efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals," the release further added

The vaccine is based on a platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said,"Vaccine partnerships are the only way to overcome the pandemic. The world continues its tight against coronavirus and we see a growing interest in Sputnik V vaccine as it is one of the best vaccines available. Cooperation with Panacea Biotec is an important step to produce the vaccine in India and to supply our international partners around the world."

Dr. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director of Panacea Biotec, said,"We are pleased to collaborate with RDIF to produce Sputnik V for global markets.Panacea Biotec brings decades of vaccine manufacturing and distribution know-how to scale-up Sputnik V supplies. Panacea Biotec will produce Sputnik V in its internationally accredited facilities· complying to strict GMP standards and prequalified by WHO."

RDIF has already partnered with other Indian pharma firms such as Hetero, Gland Pharma and Stelis Biopharma to produce millions of Sputnik V Vaccine in India