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Morepen Laboratories has started producing the test batch of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine at an exclusive facility in Himachal Pradesh .
The first batch will be shipped to Gamaleya Centre in Moscow which developed the vaccine for quality check, said a joint statement filed with stock exchanges by Morepen and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund that has developed the vaccine).
RDIF and Morepen signed a cooperation agreement in June and are implementing the technology transfer.
In a statement, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, said: “As the pandemic is yet far from over and new, more dangerous variants of coronavirus are being detected, RDIF is increasing capacities for the production of Sputnik V in India, one of the key hubs. The agreement with Morepen Laboratories provides for a larger amount of Sputnik V to be available both for India and our partners globally to speed up the vaccination with one of the best vaccines in the world.”
Morepen Chairman and Managing Director Sushil Suri said: “We take this partnership as starting point for long-term relationship with RDIF and its partner companies. Morepen’s commitment towards this project is step forward towards entry into biosimilars and other biologicals.”
On Tuesday, the shares of Morepen Labs surged 9.07 per cent to close at ₹70.95 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
RDIF has tied up with several pharmaceutical companies in India — Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma and Virchow Biotech — that will lead to the production of more than 850 million doses of Sputnik V annually.
Recently, Panacea Biotec received a licence from the Drug Controller General for manufacturing the Sputnik V vaccine in India, post the clearance of quality control tests by Gamaleya Centre.
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