Russian Sputnik-V vaccine arrives in Hyderabad

Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has collaborated with RDIF to import the first consignment of Sputnik-V while it is expected that the pharma giant will start manufacturing from its local facilities in India

Hyderabad: The first consignment of 1.50 lakh doses of Sputnik-V, which was developed in Russia, has landed in Hyderabad on Saturday. The Sputnik-V vaccines have been delivered to India by Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

“The Sputnik-V vaccine, which arrived in Hyderabad from Russia, will add to the country’s vaccine arsenal to end the pandemic. This third option (along with Covaxin and Covishield) will augment our vaccine capacity and accelerate our vaccination drive,” official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Arindam Bagchi said.

Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has collaborated with RDIF to import the first consignment of Sputnik-V while it is expected that the pharma giant will start manufacturing from its local facilities in India.

“This is first consignment of 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik-V vaccine with millions of doses to follow. There are plans to manufacture Sputnik-V locally as part of ‘Make in India’ initiative for use in India and Russia and other countries. Deeply value the support from long-standing friend Russia,” Bagchi on social media platform Twitter on Saturday said.

The Sputnik-V vaccine was developed by researchers at Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology Moscow, Russia. Based on a paper published in The Lancet science journal, the efficacy of the Sputnik -V vaccine is close to 92 per cent.

According to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr. Reddy’s and Sputnik LLC are jointly conducting multi-centric phase II and phase III adaptive clinical trials to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in India.

The Sputnik-V Covid vaccine is based on human adenovirus vector platform and comes with two doses, which have to be administered three weeks apart. The phase II and phase III trials of Sputnik-V are underway on 1,600 volunteers in 25 sites across the country.

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