Serum Institute of India (SII) will start manufacturing Sputnik COVID vaccine at the company’s facilities in September, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Tuesday.

“The first batch of Sputnik vaccine is expected to be produced at SII’s facilities in September,” RDIF said in a statement.

The intention is to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India per year, RDIF added. 

“As part of the technical transfer process, SII has already received cell and vector samples from the Gamaleya Center. With their import approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the cultivation process has begun,” RDIF said.

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Sputnik V was registered by Russia in August last year — the first of four vaccines developed in the country.

SII, on the other hand, is the world’s largest company in terms of COVID vaccines production with over 500 million doses manufactured. It is currently manufacturing Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford), Covovax (by Novavax) and conducting trials of Codagenix in the UK. 

“RDIF is delighted to cooperate with Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. This strategic partnership is a major step to substantially increase our production capabilities demonstrating a perfect example of joining forces and expertise to save lives both in India and around the world. With technology transfer underway we expect the first batches of the vaccine to be produced jointly with SII in coming months,” Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said, PTI reported. 

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, said, “I am delighted to partner with RDIF to manufacture the Sputnik vaccine. We hope to make millions of doses in the coming months with trial batches starting in the month of September. With high efficacy and a good safety profile, it is critical that the Sputnik vaccine is accessible in full measure for people across India and the world. Given the uncertainty of the virus, it is important for international institutes, and governments to collaborate and further bolster up our fight against the pandemic.” 

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