The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), promoters of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has entered into a deal with Hyderabad-based Hetero Biopharma, to manufacture over 100 million doses annually.
The vaccine, announced earlier this week by Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, claimed an “interim efficacy”, via press release, of 91.4%, from its ongoing phase-3 trials. Human trials are also scheduled in India with Dr. Reddy’s, as per a previous agreement between the companies.
The RDIF said it planned to start producing the vaccine in the beginning of 2021.
Uses two different vectors
The vaccine uses two different vectors based on the human adenovirus, which reportedly allows for a stronger and longer-term immune response as compared to the ones using one and the same vector for two doses.
Phase III clinical trials are on in Belarus, the UAE, Venezuela and other countries, as well as Phase II-III in India.
“We are delighted to announce the agreement between RDIF and Hetero that will pave the way to production of the safe and highly effective Sputnik V vaccine on Indian soil,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in a statement. “Thanks to our cooperation with Hetero, we will be able to significantly increase production capacity and provide people of India with an efficient solution in this challenging period of the pandemic”, he stated.
B. Murali Krishna Reddy, Director – International Marketing, Hetero Labs Limited, said in a statement, “While we look forward to the clinical trial results in India, we believe that manufacturing the product locally is crucial to enable swift access to patients”
He added,“This collaboration is another step towards our commitment in the battle against Covid-19 and realizing the objective of ‘Make-in-India’ campaign as envisioned by our Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.”