Sputnik V: Russia Keen On Bringing India In As Production Partner For New Coronavirus Vaccine

Russia, which last week became the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine, is now keen on producing their candidate Sputnik V in India.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund that is funding the Russian coronavirus vaccine programme said, "Moscow is keen to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India." The Russian vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow.

Reuters

According to India Today, Dmitriev said Russia is in touch with Indian regulators and manufacturers to produce the COVID-19 vaccine in India.

"We have great cooperation with India, Indian scientists and Indian manufacturers. They understand our technology," said Dmitriev.

Also Read: Amid Fear Of Moving Too Fast, Russia Produces First Batch Of COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V

Dmitriev told India Today that India has the manufacturing capability to mass produce the COVID vaccine and hence Russia is interested in bringing India on board as a production partner.

Kirill Dmitriev/Reuters

"We saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi comment that India is open to manufacturing the vaccine in their country...India has already invested in the vaccine sector heavily with top companies and manufacturing capabilities already exist in India, hence Moscow is keen to manufacture Sputnik V in India," Dmitriev said.

The CEO of RDIF said that Russia is also open to holding clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine in India. He said that Russia is working with 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and India, in an attempt to make the vaccine affordable and accessible with global production partners.

Dmitriev addressed concerns about the safety of the Russian coronavirus vaccine as well. As the process sped up, many experts raised concerns that the vaccine did not complete all the necessary clinical trials before the registration. Russian President Vladimir Putin had addressed the concerns, and said that it is safe and that one of his daughters had also been innoculated.

Also Read : Russia To Reportedly Register World's First COVID-19 Vaccine On August 12

Dmitriev said, "The vaccine is safe and reliable. I have been inoculated along with my entire family, including my 90-year old parents. Our target is to inoculate 40 million people in Russia. The vaccine platform has been developed over the last six years and hence has no side effects," he said.

He added that countries do not need WHO clearance for procurement of the vaccine but of domestic regulators.

"The WHO is changing its language on accepting Sputnik V. Countries do not need WHO clearance to procure the vaccine. It needs to be authorised by the domestic regulator," he added.

The official Sputnik V website, run by the Russian sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), says phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of the vaccine were completed on August 1, 2020, and the vaccine received a registration certificate under ¡°emergency rules¡± from the Russian Ministry of Health on August 11.

Western experts have been skeptical about the Russian claim, given the speed and secrecy with which the Gamaleya candidate has been given regulatory approval.