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Pharmaceutical company Panacea Biotec has supplied the first batch of the second component of the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, for sale in India.
The batch will be distributed in India through its partner, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, it said on Tuesday in a joint statement with the Russian Direct investment Fund (RDIF).
Doses of the second component of the Russian vaccine have been manufactured at the company’s manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh. Panacea had received the necessary approval from the Central Drug Laboratories (CDL) on August 31.
According to the release, the company had begun its full-scale production of Spuntik V at Panacea Biotec’s facilities this summer. “Panacea Biotec is pleased to have successfully produced and dispatched the first batch of Component II (Ad5) of Sputnik V vaccine. More batches are currently under production at our manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh,” said Dr Rajesh Jain, Managing Director of Panacea Biotec.
Components differ
It is to be noted that the two jabs of Sputnik V have different components unlike Covaxin and Covishield. While the first shot contains adenovirus 26 (Ad26), the second dose contains adenovirus 5(Ad5). Till now, 8-10 lakh doses of Sputnik V vaccines have been provided so far, NK Arora, who heads NTAGI, had told BusinessLine on August 29. The reason for the limited supply of Sputnik V has been the mismatch between the two doses, he had said.
Meanwhile, Panacea Biotech shares ended up higher on the news of vaccine supply. The shares rose 8.64 per cent to ₹320.05 per share, up ₹25.45 from the previous close on the BSE.
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