In a latest development in the arrrival of Russia's Sputnik vaccine in India, Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Thursday told that India will start receiving the vaccine by the end of May.
As per Reuters, "we are targeting to have the first batches imported by (fiscal) Q1, and are trying our best to have them by end-May," said a Dr. Reddy’s spokesman. "Sputnik is going to be made in India in a few months. We expect the India-made vaccine to start being available from the second quarter of the fiscal (year)." the lab added.
Besides, a day after announcing that Sputnik V vaccine could be sold at around Rs 750 a dose in India, its manufacturer Dr Reddy's Labs clarified that discussions on the price are still on and there is no final decision yet. "While the global price for the Sputnik V vaccine is $10 per dose, we are still in discussions on the price of the imported doses in India. We will share an update once there are further developments in this regard," Dr Reddy's said in a statement today.
Yesterday (April 21), GV Prasad, the Managing Director of Dr Reddy's, had said, "Firstly, the imported product would only be for the private market, it is allowed for the private market completely. Our partner wants to price it globally at a similar level. The global price is $10 and I am hoping that will be the ceiling in India. So initially, we will start with that. Once we start manufacturing, we will have to start exporting some of it and give it to the public markets in India and that pricing model we will have to figure out in the next coming weeks. The ceiling being $10, it should be little less than that. That product will be available both for the public and private market."
Mr Prasad added that the cost of Sputnik V would be lower when its production starts in India. He estimated that several hundred thousand doses shall be available in May-June.
Notably, Sputnik V is the only Covid vaccination other than those of Pfizer and Moderna to show an effectiveness of over 91 per cent against Covid-19 when taken in two doses, 21 days apart.