RDIF adds Virchow Biotech to Sputnik V manufacturers in India

The deal is similar to RDIF’s agreements with Stelis Biopharma, Gland Pharma, and Hetero Biopharma, among others.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), and Virchow Biotech (part of the Virchow Group), one of the leading vaccine and pharmaceutical producers in India, have partnered to produce up to 200 million doses per year of Sputnik V.

The technology transfer is expected to be completed in the 2Q of 2021 followed by full-scale commercial production of Sputnik V. Virchow Biotech capacities will help facilitate global supply of Sputnik V to international partners of RDIF.

The deal is similar to RDIF’s agreements with Stelis Biopharma, Gland Pharma, and Hetero Biopharma, among others.

As per an RDIF release, Sputnik V has been registered in 54 countries globally with total population of over 1.4 billion people. Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6 per cent as confirmed by the data published in The Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals. The vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented, “Vaccine partnerships are the only way to overcome the pandemic. The world continues its fight against coronavirus and we see a growing interest in Sputnik V vaccine as it is one of the most efficient vaccines available. The agreement with Virchow Biotech is an important step to facilitate the full-scale local production of the vaccine in India and to supply our international partners globally.”

Dr Tummuru Murali, Managing Director of Virchow Biotech, said, “We are glad to sign a cooperation agreement with RDIF to produce the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Virchow’s proven capabilities in large scale drug substance manufacturing should help meet the global demand for this vaccine. We are also happy to learn of the positive feedback that this vaccine has been receiving from all сountries.”