RDIF, Morepen Lab to produce test batch of Sputnik V vaccine in Himachal Pradesh

The first batch will be shipped to Gamaleya Center for quality control

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Morepen Laboratories, one of the leading manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in India, on Tuesday announced the production of the test batch of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in an exclusive facility in Himachal Pradesh.

The first batch will be shipped to the Gamaleya Center for quality control.

The RDIF and Morepen Laboratories signed a cooperation agreement in June 2021 and are actively implementing the technology transfer.

Sputnik V was granted an emergency use authorization in India on April 12, 2021, and India is the leading production hub of the vaccine.

Read more: India's Panacea Biotec gets manufacturing licence for Sputnik V

RDIF had reached agreements earlier with other leading pharmaceutical companies in India - Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma and Virchow Biotech.

In total, agreements with partners in India provide for the production of more than 850 million doses of Sputnik V per year, according to a joint statement of RDIF and Morepen Laboratories.

To date, Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally with a total population of over 3.5 billion people.

The data obtained by regulators of several countries during the vaccination of the population, including Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, Mexico and others, demonstrates that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against coronavirus.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said, “ As the pandemic is yet far from over and new, more dangerous variants of coronavirus are being detected in various regions of the world, RDIF is increasing capacities for the production of Sputnik V in India, one of the key hubs. Agreement with Morepen Laboratories provides for a larger amount of Sputnik V to be available both for India and our partners globally to speed up the vaccination with one of the best vaccines in the world.”

Sushil Suri, Chairman & Managing Director of Morepen Laboratories Limited, said, “We are delighted to partner with RDIF for the prestigious project of Sputnik V production in India. This would be our privilege to work jointly on expanding the production base in India. We take this partnership as a starting point for a long term relationship with RDIF and its partner companies as we look forward to work over many more areas of common interest. Morepen’s commitment towards this project is a step forward towards entry into biosimilars and other biologicals.”

The statement said that the efficacy of Sputnik V is 97.6% based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020, to March 31, 2021.