The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories will collaborate on clinical trials and distribution of Sputnik V vaccine in India. RDIF will supply Dr Reddy’s 100 million doses of the vaccine, once it receives approval from India’s regulator.
This is the third major alliance on an international Covid-19 vaccine for India. The others being Serum Institute’s supply and distribution deal with AstraZeneca and Oxford University on their vaccine candidate. Serum also has a similar alliance with Novavax. In fact, the Russian sovereign wealth fund indicated that more Indian alliances are in the pipeline.
An RDIF spokesperson told BusinessLine: “We would confirm that we are in talks with a number of Indian companies on Sputnik V manufacturing, but we do not disclose names yet.”
Reports suggest that Indian drug companies, including Wockhardt, Zydus Cadila, Reliance Life Sciences and Sun Pharma, are on RDIF’s radar. However, there is no independent confirmation from the companies. The agreement between RDIF and Dr Reddy’s reflects the growing awareness of countries and organisations to have a diversified anti-Covid vaccine portfolio to protect their populations, they said in a joint statement.
Promising partnership
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, said, RDIF partners will receive an effective and safe drug to fight the coronavirus.”
GV Prasad, DRL’s Co-Chairman and Managing Director said, “Phase I and II clinical trials have shown promising results. We will be conducting Phase-III trials in India to ensure safety and efficacy for the Indian population and to meet the requirements of the Indian regulators. Sputnik V vaccine could provide a credible option in our fight against Covid-19 in India.”
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.