The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Virchow Biotech, part of Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharma products maker Virchow Group, have entered into an agreement to produce up to 200 million doses per year of Sputnik V vaccine, the world’s first registered vaccine against coronavirus.

The technology transfer is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021 followed by full-scale commercial production of the Sputnik V vaccine.

Virchow Biotech’s capacities will help facilitate the global supply of Sputnik V to international partners of RDIF, said a top official of the company.

Hyderabad-based Virchow Group has been a global player for four decades; it has presence in over 100 countries and annual turnover of over $600 million. The Virchow Group has a diversified business portfolio ranging from biogenerics, to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and APIs. The group is the largest producer of Sulfamethoxazole and Ranitidine Hydrochloride in the world.

Sputnik V has been registered in 54 countries globally with total population of over 1.4 billion people. The efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6 per cent, as confirmed by data published in the Lancet. The vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity for a duration longer than that offered by vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, RDIF, in a statement, said, “Vaccine partnerships are the only way to overcome the pandemic. The world continues its fight against coronavirus and we see a growing interest in Sputnik V vaccine as it is one of the most efficient vaccines available. The agreement with Virchow Biotech is an important step to facilitate the full-scale local production of the vaccine in India and to supply our international partners globally.”

Dr. Tummuru Murali, Managing Director of Virchow Biotech, said: “We are glad to sign a cooperation agreement with RDIF to produce the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Virchow’s proven capabilities in large-scale drug substance manufacturing should help meet the global demand for this vaccine. We are also happy to learn of the positive feedback that this vaccine has been receiving from all countries.”

RIDF has tied up with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories for vaccine trials in India and has entered into vaccine manufacture arrangements with Hetero Drugs (100 million doses), Gland Pharma (252 million doses) and Stelis Biopharma of Strides (200 million doses) in India.

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