Stelis Biopharma to make 200 mn doses of Russia's Sputnik V Covid vaccine

Bengaluru-headquartered Stelis Biopharma has joined domestic pharmaceutical firms Gland Pharma and Hetero becoming the third Indian company to partner with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, to produce and supply the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus. 

The RDIF-Stelis agreement, which involves the initial production and supply of about 200 million doses of the vaccine, was reached under the aegis of Enso Healthcare, RDIF’s coordination partner for sourcing Sputnik V vaccines in India. 

Stelis will commence supplies from September quarter of 2021 and will also continue to work with RDIF to provide additional supply volumes beyond the initial agreement. It is the biopharmaceutical entity of Strides Pharma Science, which is planning to demerge and list it on a standalone basis. The manufacturing of Sputnik V will take place at the company’s dedicated vaccine facility in Bengaluru.

Hyderabad-headquartered Gland Pharma had recently inked a pact with RDIF to supply 252 million doses of the Sputnik V. Hetero will also supply 100 million doses of the vaccine.

“We are delighted to partner with RDIF to make a substantial contribution towards providing global supply of the Sputnik V vaccine which is one of the most efficacious approved vaccines commercially available. We will also work with RDIF to increase the availability of the vaccine beyond our initial commitments,” said Arun Kumar, Founder of Strides Group.

Sputnik V has shown 91.6 per cent efficacy in trials, much higher than the efficacy of CoviShield, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine made by Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, which are currently being administered in India. 

The Russian vaccine is under review for emergency use authorisation in India. It will be marketed in India by Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL), which is also working with RDIF to conduct bridge clinical trials to establish safety and immunogenicity of the Sputnik V on Indians. The Indian expert panel on vaccines has asked DRL to provide more data on immunogenicity.

DRL had said earlier that RDIF has lined up 250 million doses of Sputnik V for Indian citizens from various manufacturing partners over the next 12 months. The remaining doses would be exported to 51 countries, where the Sputnik V already has approval.

In November Kirill Dimitriev, RDIF CEO, had said that the plan was to supply one billion doses globally through manufacturing partnerships.

“The Russian vaccine with efficacy of 91.6 per cent is one of the best vaccines against coronavirus in the world. The significant vaccine volumes which will be produced jointly with Stelis will help to widen access to the vaccine on a global scale,” said Dimitriev.