Coronavirus | Hetero signs deal with Russia to make COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India

The vaccine, announced earlier this week by Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, claims an “interim efficacy” of 91.4%, from its ongoing phase-3 trials

Updated - November 27, 2020 11:50 pm IST - New Delhi

Sputnik V, the vaccine for COVID-19 developed by Russia

Sputnik V, the vaccine for COVID-19 developed by Russia

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), promoters of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine candidate , has entered into a deal with Hyderabad-based Hetero Biopharma, to manufacture over 100 million doses annually.

The vaccine, announced earlier this week by Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, claimed an “interim efficacy”, via press release, of 91.4%, from its ongoing phase-3 trials. Human trials are also scheduled in India with Dr. Reddy’s, as per a previous agreement between the companies.

The RDIF said it planned to start producing the vaccine in the beginning of 2021.

Uses two different vectors

The vaccine uses two different vectors based on the human adenovirus, which reportedly allows for a stronger and longer-term immune response as compared to the ones using one and the same vector for two doses.

Phase III clinical trials are on in Belarus, the UAE, Venezuela and other countries, as well as Phase II-III in India.

“We are delighted to announce the agreement between RDIF and Hetero that will pave the way to production of the safe and highly effective Sputnik V vaccine on Indian soil,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in a statement. “Thanks to our cooperation with Hetero, we will be able to significantly increase production capacity and provide people of India with an efficient solution in this challenging period of the pandemic”, he stated.

B. Murali Krishna Reddy, Director – International Marketing, Hetero Labs Limited, said in a statement, “While we look forward to the clinical trial results in India, we believe that manufacturing the product locally is crucial to enable swift access to patients”

He added,“This collaboration is another step towards our commitment in the battle against Covid-19 and realizing the objective of ‘Make-in-India’ campaign as envisioned by our Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.