Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, which has partnered with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for clinical trials, regulatory aspects and marketing, on Wednesday said Russian Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, will be available in India this quarter.
According to GV Prasad, Co-chairman and Managing Director, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, the company will initially receive doses of the vaccine from Russia. However, from the second quarter, it will be manufactured by partners of RDIF in the country, he added.
Prasad said, discussions were on with different stakeholders on pricing and availability and conclusions will be reached over the next few weeks.
Dr Reddy’s has a contract with RDIF for the supply of 125 million people doses (250 million vaccines units) as part of a comprehensive collaboration it had entered into with RDIF last September. The company had already made arrangements for safe transportation of the vaccine at the required temperature levels of -18°C.
K Satish Reddy, Chairman, Dr Reddy’s said: “There should be a framework for discussion on pricing. The discussions will commence shortly”.
According to Deepak Sapra, Chief Executive Officer, API and Services, Sputnik V’s immunogenicity data, as shown in the trials with 1,600 subjects in India, was in line with that of Russia.
Production partners
India will be a hub for Sputnik V’s production, as RDIF’s partners that include Hetero, Gland Pharma, Stelis Pharma, Virchow and Panacea Biotech, will be producing 60-70 per cent of its global volume.
Sapra said the vaccine produced in India will be initially used to inoculate the country’s citizens; it will cater to the RDIF’s global requirements as volumes rise.
No serious safety concerns There are no serious safety concerns other than the commonly encountered side-effects of intra-muslcar vaccines,” Sapra said.
The Russian agency will reportedly have a combined production capacity of over 1,000 million doses of Sputnik V in India. Its efficacy is 91.6 per cent, as confirmed by the data published in The Lancet, he added.
With a shelf life of six months, Sputnik has to be administered in two separate doses with a gap of three weeks.
With its approval for emergency use in India by the Government, the Russian vaccine now has approvals in 60 countries reaching three billion people or 40 per cent of the world's population.