Hyderabad-based Virchow Biotech Private Limited (part of the Virchow Group) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, on Monday announced the agreement to produce up to 200 million doses per year of Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus. The technology transfer is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021 followed by full-scale commercial production of Sputnik V.
Virchow Biotech will help facilitate the global supply of Sputnik V to international partners of RDIF. Sputnik V has been registered in 54 countries globally so far. The efficacy of Sputnik V is claimed to be 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals. The vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said, “Vaccine partnerships are the only way to overcome the pandemic. The world continues its fight against coronavirus and we see a growing interest in Sputnik V vaccine as it is one of the most efficient vaccines available. The agreement with Virchow Biotech is an important step to facilitate the full-scale local production of the vaccine in India and to supply our international partners globally.”
Dr Tummuru Murali, Managing Director of Virchow Biotech, said, “We are glad to sign a cooperation agreement with RDIF to produce the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Virchow’s proven capabilities in large scale drug substance manufacturing should help meet the global demand for this vaccine. We are also happy to learn of the positive feedback that this vaccine has been receiving from all countries.”
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors.
Earlier in September 2020, Dr Reddys had entered an agreement with RDIF to produce Sputnik V at their facilities in Hyderabad. The pharma company however in February failed to get approval from an expert committee citing a lack of data. The company had carried out Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials on 1,500 people and was asked to submit immunogenicity data for approval.