 India's
Stelis Biopharma to make 200 million doses of Sputnik V
vaccine
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[March 19, 2021]
BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's Stelis
Biopharma has partnered with Russia's sovereign fund to make at least
200 million doses of Sputnik V, its parent company said on Friday,
taking the nation's total output of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than
half a billion doses.
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 The announcement by the parent, Strides Pharma Science, of a pact
with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) follows similar deals
by Indian pharmaceutical firms Gland Pharma and Hetero.
"The significant vaccine volumes which will be produced jointly with
Stelis will help to widen access to the vaccine on a global scale,"
Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Fund, said in a statement
https://bit.ly/3c1gVhP.
Stelis and the Fund plan to start supplies of the vaccine doses in
the third quarter of this year, while Stelis works to provide added
volumes beyond the initial agreement.
Sputnik V, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, has proved
91.6% effective against COVID-19 and has been approved for use in
more than 50 countries, with the Fund signing supply deals with more
than 13 nations.
India, the world's largest vaccine maker, has now become one of the
biggest producers of the shot outside Russia. Other countries
producing it include Brazil, China and South Korea.
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 India has gifted or sold doses
produced locally to other countries. While
nations like the United States are being accused
of vaccine nationalism, India has been praised
for sending doses to 71 countries.
The statement gave no details of which countries would receive the
Stelis-made doses.
India has given emergency use approval to AstraZeneca Plc's vaccine
and a homegrown one made by Bharat Biotech.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, which has run small clinical studies
of Sputnik V domestically, sought emergency-use approval for the
vaccine last month, but India's drug regulator asked for more data.
(Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by
Ramakrishnan M. and Clarence Fernandez)
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