On Monday, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the pharmaceutical business Panacea Biotec announced that production of the Sputnik V vaccine against Coronavirus will begin in India this summer.
On April 12, Sputnik V was approved for emergency use in India, and on May 14, the first Russian vaccine against coronavirus was administered. In April, RDIF and Panacea announced their partnership to mass manufacture Sputnik V at the rate of 100 million doses annually.
Panacea Biotec’s Baddi facilities will be sending their first batch to the Gamaleya Centre in Russia for quality assurance testing. The vaccine is scheduled to enter mass manufacturing this summer. According to a statement released by RDIF, “Company’s facilities comply with GMP [good manufacturing practise] standards and are prequalified by WHO.”
In order to aid India in its battle against the epidemic, we have begun manufacturing in collaboration with Panacea Biotec. RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement, “Production of Sputnik V supports efforts of India’s authorities to leave behind the acute phase of coronavirus as soon as possible, while the vaccines will also be exported at a later stage to help prevent the spread of the virus in other countries.”
This is a major milestone as we start making Sputnik V. We at Panacea Biotec are committed to working with RDIF to restore a feeling of normality in the lives of individuals all around the globe. Unlike vaccines that utilise the same delivery mechanism for both doses, Sputnik V employs two separate vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, resulting in longer-lasting protection.
The Gamaleya National Centre in Russia is responsible for its creation. After Covaxin and Covishield, this vaccine would be India’s third approved for use in the country’s vaccination system. An alarming increase in new Covid-19 infections in India prompted the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to approve Sputnik V for limited use last month. According to reports, Sputnik V is the world’s first vaccination against Covid-19, with an effectiveness of 91.6%.
Russia green-lit the Sputnik V on August 11 of last year. According to a report in the Lancet Medical Journal, the vaccine has been given the green light for widespread distribution in more than 50 nations. The RDIF has contracted with an Indian pharmaceutical company to manufacture 750 million doses of Sputnik V. Sputnik V may be purchased for less than $10 each round, making it accessible to customers all across the globe. In all, 250,000 pills were sent to Hyderabad, with 150,000 arriving on May 1 and the last 60,000 arriving on May 16.
