India to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine: Russia

Russian Direct Investment Fund and Hetero, an Indian pharmaceutical, have agreed to produce in India over 100 million doses per year of Sputnik V, the Russian anti-COVID vaccine, AFP reports.

The production of the vaccine is expected to start at the beginning of 2021, the website sputnikvaccine.com said. The COVID-19, first detected in December 2019 in China’s Wuhan, has since spread to all corners of the world infecting 60.9 million people and killing 1.43 million.

The Gamaleya Center and RDIF announced on November 24 positive results obtained during the second interim data analysis of the placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trials of Sputnik V in 40,000 volunteers.

According to the sputnikvaccine.com, interim trial results confirmed 91.4% efficacy of the vaccine that uses two different vectors based on the human adenovirus. This allows for a stronger and longer-term immune response as compared to vaccines using one and the same vector for two doses, the website added.

So, preliminary data on volunteers on the 42nd day after the first dose (equivalent to 21 days after the second dose), when they have already formed a stable immune response, indicates the efficacy rate of the vaccine is above 95%.