New Delhi: Pune based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) has partnered with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to licence produce Sputnik V vaccine in India, the production is expected to commence in September this year as the process of transfer of technology has already started, the RDIF said in a statement sent to ETV Bharat. Sputnik V is one of the three Covid vaccines that are currently available in the country against the Covid-19 virus.
In January this year, India started the world’s largest vaccination programme with two locally produced vaccines, Covishield developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which is produced by the SII and the other one – Covaxin - locally developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Hyderabad based vaccine producer Bharat Biotech.
The RDIF said the cultivation process has already started following the approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and Serum Institute intends to produce over 300 million doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccine per year. “As part of the technical transfer process, SII has already received cell and vector samples from the Gamaleya Center. With their import approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the cultivation process has begun,” the RDIF said.
According to the RDIF, India has emerged as a leading production hub for production of Sputnik vaccine. RDIF had earlier reached agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies in India (Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma, Virchow Biotech and Morepen) for production of the Russian vaccine. “With technology transfer underway we expect the first batches of the vaccine to be produced jointly with SII in coming months,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Read: Over 1.91 crore Covid vaccine doses still available with states, UTs: Centre
Dmitriev said it will help in saving lives in India and around the world. "We hope to make millions of doses in the coming months with trial batches starting in the month of September,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India. Poonawalla said with a high efficacy level and a good safety profile, it is critical that the Sputnik vaccine is accessible in full measure for people across India and the world.
“Given the uncertainty of the virus, it is important for international institutes, and governments to collaborate and further bolster up our fight against the pandemic,” Poonawalla added. Pune based SII is the world’s largest vaccine producer, in terms of the number of doses produced, as it produces over 1.5 billion doses per year that are used in 170 countries under WHO’s vaccination programmes.
The SII is also the world’s largest Covid vaccine producer with over 500 million doses manufactured. In addition to developing its own vaccine, Serum Institute is currently manufacturing Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford), Covovax (by Novavax) and conducting trials of Codagenix in the UK.
Sputnik V Vaccine
According to the RDIF, Sputnik V has an efficacy rate of 97.6%. It is 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 well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.
Sputnik V uses heterogeneous boosting (two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination among COVID vaccines). This approach provides for immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
Read: Slew of incentives across globe to promote vaccination
