Sputnik V manufacturing to start soon in India: Dr Vinod K. Paul

NEW DELHI: The manufacturing of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine will start soon in India as the country has accomplished technology-transfer to Indian companies, said Dr Vinod K. Paul, chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) on Thursday. Paul made the announcement while clearing the myth that the Centre is not doing enough to buy vaccines from abroad.

Paul said the Central government has also proactively eased entry of vaccines approved by the US FDA, EMA, UK's MHRA and Japan's PMDA, and WHO's Emergency Use Listing into India in April. He said these vaccines will not need to undergo prior bridging trials as the provision has now been further amended to waive off the trial requirement altogether for the well-established vaccines manufactured in other countries.

"No application of any foreign manufacturer for approval is pending with the drugs controller," Paul, Member (Health) in NITI Aayog, further said.

Paul said that Sputnik vaccine trials got accelerated and with timely approval, Russia has already sent two tranches of vaccines and "accomplished tech-transfer to our companies that would start manufacturing very soon".

The declaration comes after the developers of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine and Panacea Biotec on Monday announced that full-scale production of the doses in India will start this summer.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), or Russia's sovereign wealth fund, has tied up with Indian pharmaceutical firms such as Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma and Virchow Biotech to make more than 850 million doses a year.

Sputnik V has been granted approval for emergency use by India's drug controller. The Russian vaccine was registered in India under the emergency use authorisation procedure on April 12 and use of the Russian vaccine started on May 14. (IANS)

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