Once available, Sputnik V will be the third vaccine to be used in India against coronavirus
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, which has received approval from the Indian drug regulator for restricted emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, on April 27 said it expects the first lot of stock from Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) by May-end.
In September 2020, Dr. Reddy’s and RDIF entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the rights for distribution of the first 100 million doses in India.
Later, it was enhanced to 125 million.
“We are targeting to have the first batches imported by Q1, and are trying our best to have them by end-May,” a Dr Reddy’s spokesperson told PTI in an email reply.
RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev in a virtual press conference recently said he expected over 50 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine to be manufactured in India by this summer.
He had said RDIF has tied up with five drug companies for the vaccine and is looking at a couple of more firms for the possible production pacts.
Once available, Sputnik V will be the third vaccine to be used in India against coronavirus.
In January, the DCGI had given the emergency use authorisation for two COVID-19 vaccines — Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Pune.
“We expect domestic manufacturing to ramp up from Q2. We are not able to confirm on the first lot size at this time,” Dr. Reddy’s official further said.
A senior official of Dr. Reddy’s said the vaccine will be imported in a frozen condition from RDIF maintaining -18 to -22 degree celsius.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Business News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.