India emerges global manufacturing hub for Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V

 Gland Pharma to make 252 mn doses, Hetero 100 mn doses, Strides may also join the fray

Hyderabad-headquartered Gland Pharma on Tuesday said it had inked a pact with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to supply 252 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

This is part of the Russian sovereign wealth fund’s efforts to increase manufacturing capacities in India to make for the country and to augment global supplies.

Sources said Bengaluru-based Strides Pharma Science, too, is in fray for contract manufacturing the Sputnik V. Another Hyderabad-based player, Hetero, will supply 100 million doses of the vaccine.

RDIF has lined up 250 million doses for India over the next 12 months, and the rest will be for global supplies.

Strides did not wish to comment on the matter.

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 (SII), and Covaxin made by Bharat Biotech, which are currently being administered in India.

After Tuesday’s announcement, shares of Gland Pharma rose about 7 per cent on the BSE, while shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), RDIF’s Indian partner, too, were up 2.4 per cent.