Russia eyeing to produce 'Sputnik V' coronavirus vaccine in India

Guwahati: Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is funding the vaccine that may cure coronavirus, has said that Moscow is keen to manufacture Covid vaccine Sputnik V in India.

India has shown interest in Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine that has become the world's first registered vaccine for Covid-19.

Dmitriev said in an interview, "We have great cooperation with India, Indian scientists, and Indian manufacturers. They understand our technology,"

Dmitriev further added that India has the manufacturing capability to mass produce the Covid vaccine and therefore Russia is interested in bringing India on board as a production partner.

"We saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi comment that India is open to manufacturing the vaccine in their country...India has already invested in the vaccine sector heavily with top companies and manufacturing capabilities already exist in India, hence Moscow is keen to manufacture Sputnik V in India," Dmitriev said.

He also said Russia is open to holding phase III clinical trials of the Covid vaccine in India.

"We are working with twenty countries including India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. We want to make this vaccine affordable and accessible with production partners around the world," the CEO of RDIF added.

Russian regulators last week green-lighted the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, and President Vladimir Putin announced that one of his daughters had already been inoculated with it.

"The vaccine is safe and reliable. I have been inoculated along with my entire family, including my 90-year old parents. Our target is to inoculate 40 million people in Russia", Dmitriev said.

He maintained that the science behind the Sputnik V vaccine has been in the work for years.

"The vaccine platform has been developed over the last six years and hence has no side effects," he said.

"This is the safest delivery mechanism among all vaccines. The human adenovirus has been chosen as the safest delivery vector based upon 20 years of Russian research. Tens of thousands of people have been administered the adenovirus vaccine over the past 20 years with no side effects such as cancer or infertility," he elaborated.

Despite Russia going full steam ahead with the production of its coronavirus vaccine, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that vaccine is not among the nine that it considers in the advanced stages of testing.

"The WHO is changing its language on accepting Sputnik V. Countries do not need WHO clearance to procure the vaccine. It needs to be authorized by the domestic regulator," Dmitriev said.