Morepen Laboratories has commenced producing the test batch of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in an exclusive facility in Himachal Pradesh .
The first batch will be shipped to the Gamaleya Centre, the Moscow institute which developed the vaccine for quality control, a joint statement issued by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), and Morepen Laboratories, and filed with stock exchanges said.
It maybe recalled that 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 authorisation in India on April 12, 2021. India is the leading production hub for Sputnik V.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in a statement: “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 the 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, said: “We are a 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.”.
The shares of Morepen Labs on Tuesday surged 9.07 per cent to close at ₹70.95 at the Bombay Stock Exchange.
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 the production of more than 850 mn doses of Sputnik V per year.
Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally with a total population of over 3.5 billion people. Recently, Panacea Biotec received a licence from DCGI for manufacturing the Sputnik V vaccine in India, post the clearance of quality control tests on the first batch at the Gamaleya Centre.