Indian Drugmaker To Produce 200 Million Doses Of Russian Sputnik V COVID Vaccine

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Bengaluru-based drugmaker Stelis Biopharma will produce 200 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which backed the development of Sputnik V, said on Friday it had signed a partnership with Stelis Biopharma “to produce and supply a minimum of 200 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.”

Stelis Biopharma will start supplying the two-dose vaccine from the second half of 2021.

Stelis, the biopharma unit of global pharmaceutical company Strides, will work with RDIF to provide supplies “beyond the initial agreement.”

“Significant vaccine volumes produced with Stelis will help widen access to the vaccine on a global scale,” RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev said, adding that 52 countries have so far approved the use of Sputnik V.

Phase 3 trials of Sputnik V vaccine in India were recently completed at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd.

Several European countries, the USA and some Asian nations have been wary of the Sputnik vaccine, which Moscow registered in August before large-scale clinical trials. Leading medical journal The Lancet, though, has since said the vaccine is safe and over 90% effective.

Also Read: India May Approve Sputnik V Vaccine Soon: Reports