Russia¡¯s Sputnik V Vaccine To Come To Kanpur For Phase 2 and 3 Studies

Russia¡¯s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine surely made some news when it was first launched in August, shocking the entire world -- the first vaccine which claimed to take down the novel coronavirus.

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However, amidst this loomed the concern for the effectiveness of the vaccine, and its effects on the health of the recipient, since it was rolled out a lot sooner when its competition was still under trials and there weren¡¯t enough volunteers who participated in the trials.

Moreover, just when Pfizer announced its vaccine to be more than 90 percent effective, Russia didn¡¯t hesitate to make a statement claiming that its vaccine is 92 percent effective. And now, this vaccine is coming to India.

Reports by PTI have revealed that Sputnik V vaccine is going to soon arrive at Kanpur¡¯s Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College by next week for its Phase 2 & Phase 3 trials in India.

Approval has been granted by the Drug Control General of India to the Russian Direct Investment Fund & Dr Reddy¡¯s Laboratories Ltd. The medical college¡¯s principal, R.B. Kamal said that the human clinical trials are scheduled to commence from next week. Approval has also been granted by the Ethics Committee of the college.

Kamal said in a statement to PTI, "As many as 180 volunteers have registered for the trials. Head of the research Saurabh Agarwal will determine the dosage of the vaccine to be administered. One dose will be administered and the condition of volunteers will be monitored to determine whether they need further doses or not."

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The volunteers, according to Kamal, will be checked regularly for their vitals and medical conditions. Looking at the data derived, researchers will be able to determine whether the vaccine is effective or not. The volunteers will be observed for seven months after the vaccine is administered once, twice or thrice in an interval of 21 days.

The collaboration between Dr Reddy¡¯s and the Russian Direct Investment Fund was first announced in September. As per this partnership, RFID has promised to supply 100 million doses of the vaccine to the pharmaceutical giant, subject to regulatory approval.