Russia has agreed to supply coronavirus vaccines to Indian pharma giant Dr Reddy’s Laboratory Ltd. and also assist in conducting clinical trials of Russian vaccine Sputnik V. It will distribute 10 crore doses of the anti-coronavirus vaccine, said a press note released by Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Deliveries to India could begin in late 2020, it said, adding this was subject to the completion of trials and the vaccine’s registration by regulatory authorities in India.
The development at Dr Reddy’s Lab comes a week after the Indian government publicly confirmed that it was in advanced talks with the Russians on two counts; production of the vaccine in India and conducting Phase-III clinical trials of the same in the country. The vaccine will now go through what the Russians are calling ‘post-registration clinical trial’ – the third phase of trials, including 40,000 volunteers. These trials are currently in various stages of recruitment and have been planned in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, India and Brazil. The results of these trials are expected to be published in October or November 2020.
RDIF said its agreement with Dr Reddy’s “reflects the growing awareness of countries and organisations to have a diversified anti-COVID vaccine portfolio to protect their populations”. The CEO of RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, said, “We are very pleased to partner with Dr Reddy’s in India. Dr Reddy’s has had a very well-established and respected presence in Russia for over 25 years and is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India”.
G V Prasad, Co-Chairman and Managing Director of Dr Reddy’s said that the company will be conducting Phase-III trials in the country to meet the requirements of the Indian regulators. “Sputnik V vaccine could provide a credible option in our fight against Covid- 19 in India,” he said.
The Sputnik-V vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology on August 11. It was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world’s first registered vaccine against Covid-19 based on the human adenoviral vectors platform.
