In a bid to speed up India's COVID-19 vaccination efforts, another Indian company, Shilpa Medicare has joined efforts to ramp up the manufacturing capacity of the Sputnik V vaccine.
Last year in September, the Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories had partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct the clinical trials of the Sputnik V and for its distribution rights in India.
Taking to Twitter, Sputnik V on Monday said that Shilpa Medicare will produce 50 million doses of Sputnik V in the next 12 months, while also exploring the possibility of a single-shot vaccine, named Sputnik Light.
"Another Indian company joins the effort to ramp SputnikV manufacturing capacity. India's Shilpa Medicare will produce 50 mln doses of SputnikV in the next 12 months. It will also explore the possibility to produce single-shot Sputnik Light," it tweeted.
On Sunday, India received the second consignment of 60,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in Hyderabad, Dr Reddy's Laboratory informed. The first consignment of imported doses of the vaccine landed in India on May 1 and received regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh on May 13.
Sputnik V was approved for use in India on April 12 this year and was granted an emergency use authorisation.
Russian Ambassador to India, Nikolay Kudashev on Sunday termed the Russian-Indian fight against COVID-19, as an example of the special and privileged strategic partnership and an effective model of international anti-pandemic cooperation.
Sputnik V has become the first foreign-made vaccine to be used in India contributing to the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Inoculations with Sputnik V in Hyderabad started Friday followed by the arrival of the first batch of the vaccine in India on May 1, 2021.
( With inputs from ANI )
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