RDIF and Morepen Laboratories announce production of the test batch of Sputnik V in India
News Editor, Takmaa, Kolkata, 9th Jul 2021 : The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), and Morepen Laboratories, one of the leading manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in India, today announced the production of the test batch of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in an exclusive facility in state of Himachal Pradesh (HP).
The first batch will be shipped to the Gamaleya Center for the quality control. RDIF and Morepen Laboratories signed a cooperation agreement in June 2021 and are actively implementing the technology transfer.
Sputnik V was granted an emergency use authorization in India on April 12, 2021. India is the leading production hub for Sputnik V. RDIF had reached agreements earlier with other leading pharmaceutical companies in India – Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma and Virchow Biotech. In total, agreements with partners in India provide for production of more than 850 mn doses of Sputnik V per year.
To date, Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally with a total population of over 3.5 bn people. The data obtained by regulators of a number of countries during the vaccination of the population, including Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, Mexico and others, demonstrates that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against coronavirus.
Sputnik V is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, comment:
“As the pandemic is yet far from over and new, more dangerous variants of coronavirus are being detected in various regions of the world, RDIF is increasing capacities for production of Sputnik V in India, one of the key hubs. Agreement with Morepen Laboratories provides for a larger amount of Sputnik V to be available both for India and our partners globally to speed up the vaccination with one of the best vaccines in the world.”
Sushil Suri, Chairman & Managing Director of Morepen Laboratories Limited, comment:
“We are delighted to partner with RDIF for the prestigious project of Sputnik V production in India. This would be our privilege to work jointly on expanding the production base in India. We take this partnership as starting point for long term relationship with RDIF and its partner companies as we look forward for many more areas of common interest. Morepen’s commitment towards this project is step forward towards entry into biosimilars and other biologicals.”
Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:
· Efficacy of Sputnik V is 97.6% based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020 to March 31, 2021;
· The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.
· Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
· The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.
· There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.
· The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.
· The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. Publicity : Ad Factors.