Russia Is Seeking India For Its Mass Production Of Sputnik-V

Last updated on March 25th, 2021 at 09:22 am

India seems to be manufacturing literally very variant of the Covid-19 vaccine. Now, it is the Russian boy Sputnik V. The first in the race is the Hyderabad headquartered company Gland Pharma that has signed a pact with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to supply 252 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

Then there is Bengaluru-based Strides Pharma Science, too, that is in fray for contract manufacturing of the Russian candidate along with another Hyderabad-based player, Hetero, that is intending to supply 100 million doses of the vaccine.

Of these the RDIF would be giving away some 250 million doses to India while the rest would be given away to the rest of the world to meet for Russia’s desire to be counted as a global supplier of the Covid-19 vaccine.  The RDIF is a part of the Russian sovereign wealth fund’s efforts to increase manufacturing capacities in India to make for the country and to augment global supplies.

Related Posts

• Kremlin Blames The West For Misleading India Into Hating China
• Russia’s Sechenov University is the first to successfully complete the final Covid-19 vaccine trials

Dr. Reddy’s has already completed the third phase of the Russian medicine. The results are going to out April 2021. The Phase-3 study of Sputnik V was conducted on about 1,500 subjects as part of the randomised, double-blind, parallel-group and placebo-controlled study in India. Testing is also ongoing in full swing in the UAE. When brought into the market, the vaccine had not shown an efficacy rate of more than 61percent. As of now, Russia is boasting of an efficacy rate that is higher than of the vaccines that India is holding with itself. 

News from the UAE is also confirming a strong efficacy rate. If brought under emergency approval after the Phase-3 trials, it will become another preferred option for vaccination in India. At the moment India has Covishield, Covaxin and the Astra- Zeneca Oxford University vaccine available to its patrons. 

The Sputnik V is under review for emergency use authorisation in India. It will be marketed in India by DRL, which is also working with RDIF to conduct bridge clinical trials to establish safety and immunogenicity of the Sputnik V on Indians. The Indian expert panel on vaccines has asked DRL to provide more data on immunogenicity.