The managing director of Dr. Reddy’s laboratory GV Prasad said that Russia’s first COVID-19 vaccine “Sputnik-V” is expected to be available in India in November. It is worth noting that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the official sponsor of the vaccine candidate, had agreed a few days ago on a deal to conduct clinical trials and distribution of “Sputnik V” to the laboratory of Dr. Reddy, an Indian pharmaceutical company.
The Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have jointly developed an adenovirus vector-based vaccine Sputnik V. The vaccine was registered on August 11 and became the world’s first anti-COVID-19 vaccine based on the human adenoviral vector platform.
The Union Ministry of Health earlier stated that the Russian government has reached out to India for the partnership to produce its candidate COVID-19 vaccine. The Indian Embassy in Moscow has previously partnered with the Gamaleya National Center for Microbiology and Epidemiology, which developed the COVID-19 cure.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview, GV Prasad, Managing Director of Dr. Reddy’s laboratory, stated that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Russian Development Investment Fund (RDIF), and following which “Sputnik- V” is possible to arrive in India soon.
Leading portals quoted him as saying: The vaccine effort is vast and unprecedented, and every company is adopting different methods. In addition to this, Prasad asserted that these signs are good and their goal is to get the vaccine in the shortest time.
Soviet Health Minister, Mikhail Murashko, said in a statement to the Moscow Times that almost 14% of patients who received the vaccine have reported side effects while the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announcing to partner with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd for the distribution of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine–Sputnik V in India.
According to the Russian “Moscow Times” quoting the Russian Minister of Health, one in seven volunteers complained of side effects such as muscle pain and weakness after taking the highly touted COVID-19 vaccine in Russia.
Murashko proclaimed that the symptoms abate by the next day. Complications are described in the instructions and are foreseeable.
The preliminary results of this human clinical trial were published in the medical journal “The Lancet” on September 4. The results of two non-random early-stage vaccine trials for Sputnik V (a total of 76 people) found that 2 formulations of the two-part vaccine have excellent safety, no serious unfavorable effects were detected within 42 days, and within 21 days, elicit an antibody response in all participants.
However, the preliminary results published in the medical journal “The Lancet” also listed the adverse effects of the Sputnik V vaccine. The several common unfavorable effects were hyperthermia (high temperature – 38/76 – 51%), pain at the injection site (45/76 participants – 59%), headache (33/76 – 43%), muscle and joint pain (18/76 – 24%), and fatigue (Lack of energy or weakness – 22/76 – 28%), The Lancet stated.
The Lancet said that most of the adverse reactions were mild, and no serious adverse reactions were found within 42 days after vaccination. The Lancet said that the authors pointed out that these adverse reactions are the features of those found in other vaccines, especially those based on recombinant viral vectors.
The vaccine is divided into two parts, including recombinant human adenovirus type 5 (rAd5-S)-which have been modified to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and two adenovirus vectors-recombinant human adenovirus type 26 (rAd26-S).
Russia and India discussed vaccine availability for the Indian population. The company said in a statement on Wednesday that after the approval of the Indian regulator RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund will provide Dr. Reddy with 100 million doses of vaccine.
RDIF stated in a statement: Vaccine delivery may begin in late 2020 after the trial completion successfully and registration of vaccine by the Indian regulatory agency. India will also conduct clinical trials on its own population before approving vaccine management.
G. V. Prasad, managing director and co-chairman of Dr. Reddy’s laboratory, said: The results of the first and second phases have shown promise. We will conduct the third phase of the trial in India to meet the requirements of Indian regulatory authorities.
Besides this, the American biotechnology company Moderna is one of nine companies in the final stage of clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine. After seeking greater transparency, it has become the first to release a complete blueprint of its research.
Pfizer is another American company that is currently conducting Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States and will follow suit shortly afterward, and now there is more pressure on others to do the same.
The third stage is the final stage before approval, in which thousands of participants were tested with vaccines and placebos to verify the effectiveness of the drugs.
According to the Union Ministry of Health data, the Covid-19 toll in India exceeded 5.2 million, 96,425 people tested positive in one day, and the number of people recuperating from the disease rose to 41,12,553 on Friday. Data updated at 8:05 am revealed that the total number of coronavirus cases reached 52,14,679, and the death toll climbed to 84,374. The virus caused 1,176 deaths within 24 hours.
