Covid-19: Dr Reddy’s to seek DCGI nod for Sputnik Light vaccine soon

With the government allowing exports of vaccines, Dr Reddys is also in discussion to take Sputnik to other countries mostly in the Asia-Pacific region and in certain countries of Africa, Latin America and Central America.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is in the midst of clinical trials for the Russian Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine in India and is soon expected to seek regulatory nod from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). Dr Reddy’s has partnered with Russian, RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) for the Sputnik vaccine supplies in India. Sputnik Light vaccine is based on human adenovirus serotype 26, which is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF has said that they were expecting to launch the Sputnik Light in India in the next couple of weeks. Sputnik Light will be a one shot vaccine unlike the earlier two dose Sputnik V vaccine launched earlier in the country. Shortage of the second component of the Sputnik vaccine had led to low offtake of the Sputnik doses in India but these manufacturing issues had been resolved.

Dr Reddy’s spokesperson said Sputnik would continue to be relevant and meaningful in the India’s Covid-19 vaccination programme. The company sees the single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine as a standalone vaccine and booster dose, while Sputnik V is for the paediatric population. With the government allowing exports of vaccines, Dr Reddys is also in discussion to take Sputnik to other countries mostly in the Asia-Pacific region and in certain countries of Africa, Latin America and Central America.

RDIF has another tie-up with Serum Institute of India to make the Sputnik Light vaccines. SII has started manufacturing these vaccines at its Pune facility. According to RDIF, a one-shot vaccination regimen of Sputnik Light is easy of administer and monitor. It is also more flexible when used as a booster. A comparative study of five vaccines in EU member Hungary on 3.7 million people showed Sputnik V’s protection against mortality from Covid was 98% it had 85.7% efficacy against infection.

According to the findings by the Gamaleya Center, based on data from 28,000 subjects in Moscow, the Sputnik Light vaccine administered standalone had 70% efficacy against infection from the Delta variant of coronavirus during the first three months after vaccination. The vaccine was 75% effective among subjects under the age of 60. The efficacy of one-shot Sputnik Light as a booster against Delta variant for other vaccines will be close to the efficacy against the Delta variant of the Sputnik V vaccine, which was over 83% against infection and over 94% against hospitalization.