Foreign partners of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) spoke about the plans and difficulties in the production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. They are quoted by the Financial Times.
As the head of RDIF Kirill Dmitriev told FT, Moscow has signed contracts with 15 manufacturers in ten countries. They must release 1.4 billion doses of the vaccine, which can be used to inject 700 million people. At the same time, some manufacturers – China, India, Iran and South Korea – will produce the drug for export to third countries.
The FT suggests that Russia and its partners may face a shortage of resources to produce so many vaccines. “Each [manufacturer] may face different challenges … It takes time to get production up and running and ensure quality, especially when third parties are involved,” said Rasmus Beck Hansen, founder of London-based research and development firm Airfinity.
For example, the South Korean company GL Rapha reported that its current capacity would not be enough to produce 150 million doses per year, which has already been agreed with RDIF. That is why the company is expanding its production site and transfers part of the order to other companies.
Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero Drugs expects to soon begin production of 100 million doses of the drug and is awaiting approval from the government regulator. RDIF partner from Brazil, Uniao Química, spoke about the launch of a pilot production of Sputnik V. They will reach full capacity in April 2021, then the company will be able to produce 8 million doses of the vaccine every month.
On February 16, the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen said that Europe wants to be convinced of the quality of the Russian vaccine against the Sputnik V coronavirus before certifying and starting its procurement for use in the EU. According to her, the Russian laboratory must make a request, and then representatives of European health organizations will have access to the production of the vaccine and make sure that it is safe.
The Russian drug “Sputnik V” was developed by the Gamaleya Research Center for Electrochemistry and became the world's first registered vaccine based on the human adenovirus. At present, the development of Russian scientists is among the ten best vaccine candidates in the list of the World Health Organization (WHO). In Russia, the vaccination campaign started on December 5, 2020.
