DRL push to Sputnik V supplies with second dose from Panacea

Buoyed by supplies from Panacea Biotec, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) is looking at liquidating the stock of around 2.6 million Sputnik V first-dose components it has.

Meanwhile, a Sputnik Light (first dose of Sputnik V) roll-out can also happen soon if the Indian regulator allows. This would ensure a faster roll-out of the first-dose component of the Sputnik V vaccine. DRL, the sole distributor of Sputnik V in India under an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), had received around 3.1 million first-dose components of Sputnik V, and about 450,000 doses of the second-dose component from Russia. This had held back the roll-out of the Sputnik V vaccine here in India.

Sputnik V is a heterogeneous vaccine where the first and second doses are different and use two different vectors Ad26 and Ad5. Thus, to roll out the vaccine, DRL needs both the components in hand.

This week, Panacea Biotec, a manufacturing partner of the RDIF, has supplied the first shipment of one million doses of the second component of Sputnik V for sale in India. This is the first batch of the second-dose component produced and supplied by the company in India. The doses, manufactured at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, have got clearance from the Central Drug Laboratories (CDL), Kasauli, in August.