Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and India’s leading vaccine and pharmaceutical producer- Virchow Biotech have joined forces for the production of up to 200 million doses of Sputnik V every year.
Speculations have it that the technology allocation between the companies is likely to reach conclusion by the second quarter of 2021, followed by full-scale commercial production of Sputnik V. In turn, Virchow Biotech capacities would help facilitate the global supply of Sputnik V to international partner of RDIF.
For the record, Sputnik V has been listed in over 54 countries globally and its efficacy is deemed to be 91.6% as per the data published by Lancet. The vaccine is based on an authenticated and well-studied platform of human adenoviral courses and uses two different vectors for the two shots during the vaccination course, offering immunity with a longer duration compared to vaccines using same delivery mechanism for both shots.
Commenting on the recent alliance, CEO of RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev recently commented that vaccine partnerships seem to be the only way to overcome the pandemic. While the world is still continuing its fight against the coronavirus, the firm has been observing a mounting interest in Sputnik V vaccine as it stands to be one of the most effective vaccines available.
Dmitriev mentioned that the pact with Virchow Biotech is a vital step for the organization to facilitate the full-scale production of the vaccine in India and supply the same to its international partners globally.
Meanwhile, Managing Director of Virchow Biotech, Dr. Tummuru Murali cited that the firm is glad to have inked a cooperation agreement with RDIF to boost the production of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
Mr. Murali believes that Virchow’s proven capabilities in large scale drug substance production would help meet the global demand for the vaccine. He added that the company is thrilled to learn of the positive feedback Sputnik V has been receiving from almost all the countries.