The government on Monday approved Sputnik-V, the vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) developed by Russia. This is the third vaccine approved by India after Covishield and Covaxin. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, last week sought the government's approval for the vaccine to be used in India. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) partnered with Dr Reddy's in September 2020 to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V in India.
The Russian vaccine has an efficacy of 91.6% and is conducting its Phase III clinical trials in the UAE, India, Venezuela and Belarus, according to the Sputnik-V's website. Along with Dr Reddy's the RDIF partnered with Virchow Biotech Private Limited in March to produce up to 200 million doses per year of Sputnik V in India. It has also partnered with Stelis Biopharma Pvt Ltd and Panacea Biotech earlier in April as well to produce 200 million and 100 million doses per year of Sputnik V in the country. India's Covid surge has raised an alarm as the country reported over 1 lakh cases for the sixth straight day on Monday. India is now the second worst-hit nation, surpassing Brazil.