Sputnik V, developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, will be available in the market from next week, VK Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog, said on Thursday.
Sputnik V is the third vaccine to be approved for emergency use in India and is now registered in about 63 countries.
Meanwhile, the second batch of the vaccine is expected to land in India on Friday.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, a partner of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the custodian of Sputnik V brand in India, is likely to receive about 3 lakh doses of the vaccine in the second consignment, according to sources.
Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s has already received 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik V from RDIF on May 1 as part of the first batch of vaccines to be imported.
‘Delay’ in testing?
However, the company is yet to announce the price or dose of the vaccine and to release it in the market due to ‘delays’ in mandatory sample testing to be done for all imported vaccines.
It had already provided the samples to the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, where the Sputnik V batch is being tested mainly for efficacy, toxicity and sterility, according to sources.
The testing is expected to be completed in few days and the vaccine is likely to hit the market about a week from now. The global price of the vaccine is $10 per dose.
As per the current norms, even the second batch of the vaccine has to be tested again before it could be sent to market.
Last month, RDIF announced that it demonstrated efficacy of 97.6 per cent based on the analysis of data on the infection rate of coronavirus among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V.