Sputnik-V Vaccine: The two-dose vaccine costs less than $10 for each shot in international markets.
Highlights
- Sputnik vaccine has an effectiveness of 91.6 per cent
- The vaccine costs less than $10 for each shot in international markets
- It is manufactured in India by Dr Reddy's
Russia's Covid vaccine Sputnik V has been recommended for use in India by a committee of experts as the country battles a record spike in infections. If approved, this will be the third vaccine to be used in India after Serum Institute of India's Covishield - developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca - and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
Sputnik V, manufactured in India by Dr Reddy's, has the highest effectiveness - 91.6 per cent -- after the Moderna and Pfizer shots. Dr Reddy's had applied on February 19 for emergency use of the vaccine, which is in Phase 3 of clinical trials in India.
After the recommendation of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, the vaccine has to be greenlit by the Drug Controller General of India before it can be widely used to inoculate citizens. Sputnik V has made it to the top of the queue amid complaints of vaccine shortage from many states, especially Maharashtra, the epicenter of the second surge of Covid.
In its last meeting on April 1, the experts' committee had asked Dr Reddy's to submit data on how the shot activates the body's immune response against the coronavirus. The panel had also asked for the "unblinded data" of all serious adverse events; "unblinded" means when subjects know whether the shot administered to them was the vaccine or a placebo. A comparative analysis of phase III data in India and in Russian studies was also sought.
In India, Sputnik V trials are on for around 1,600 people between 18 and 99. Dr Reddy's partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) last September to carry out the trials.
The vaccine is also being tested in the UAE, Venezuela and Belarus.
Sputnik V, named after the first Soviet Space satellite, works on the principle of a weakened Covid virus delivering parts of a pathogen that triggers an immune response in the body.
The two-dose vaccine developed by Russia's Gamaleya Institute costs less than $10 for each shot in international markets.
The dry form of the vaccine can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees, experts say.
India today recorded 1,68,912 new Covid cases in 24 hours, the sixth record rise in seven days, pushing the country's caseload to over 1.35 crore.
Government officials have reportedly said five more vaccines will be in use in India by October.
The other vaccines coming up are Johnson and Johnson (Bio E), Zydus Cadila, Serum's Novavax and Bharat Biotech's nasal vaccine.