Dr Reddy’s bags Russian deal for supply of Covid vaccine in India

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 16

Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories on Wednesday bagged a deal from Russia for trials and supply of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in India.

After regulatory approvals here, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) will supply to Dr Reddy’s 100 million doses of the vaccine, which is based on human adenoviral vector platform with proven safety. Dr Reddy’s is set to seek approval for phase 3 clinical trials in the country from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

Deliveries could potentially begin in late 2020 subject to completion of successful trials and vaccine registration by the Indian regulator, Dr Reddy’s said. ICMR chief Balram Bhargava said Russia had good manufacturing history with vaccines and results of Sputnik V’s early trials had been promising.

Russia had announced Sputnik V as the world’s first registered vaccine against Covid-19 on August 11.

Meanwhile, India’s caseload reached 5.02 million with 3.94 million recoveries. Highest single-day recoveries of 82,961 were reported today, while new cases were 90,123. The recovery rate has reached 78.53 per cent.