Panacea supplies 1 mn Sputnik V doses
NEW DELHI: Indian pharma and vaccine major Panacea Biotec has supplied the first batch of the Russian-made coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, manufactured in India for distribution and sale locally, the company announced on Tuesday.
Panacea Biotec was the first company to locally manufacture the Russian vaccine in May this year. The batch comprises one million doses of the second component of the two-dose vaccine, and with that the possibility of more doses of the Russian-made vaccine to be administered as part of the national Covid-19 immunisation programme would increase.
“The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) and Panacea Biotec Ltd. (Company), one of India’s leading vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturers, announce supply of the 1st shipment out of 1 million doses of the second component (human adenovirus serotype 5) of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Panacea Biotec for sale in India,” said the company in a statement.
Sputnik V is made by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, and marketed globally by Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Doses of the second component of Sputnik V have been manufactured at the Panacea Biotec’s state-of-the-art facility in Himachal Pradesh.
The company received necessary clearance from the Central Drug Laboratories (CDL), Kasauli on August 31, 2021.
According to the company, full-scale production started at Panacea’s facilities this summer. The facilities comply with good manufacturing practice standards and are prequalified by World Health Organisation.
“Panacea Biotec is pleased to have successfully produced and dispatched the first batch of Component II (Ad5) of Sputnik V vaccine. More batches are currently under production at our manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh,” said Rajesh Jain, managing director, Panacea Biotec. RDIF and Panacea have agreed to produce 100 million vaccine doses per year. The current batch will be distributed in India through Dr Reddy’s Lab, a partner of RDIF.