Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it globally affordable: Russian Direct Investment Fund
The Russian COVID-19 vaccine "Sputnik V" will cost less than USD 10 (about Rs 730) per shot in India and the price is the same for all countries, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Thursday.
The vaccine is undergoing phase 3 trials.
"The price we have is the same for all of the markets and we have basically announced the pricing of less than USD 10 per shot. And it will be the same for all of the markets because we believe that there needs to be equal access, equal pricing to all of the countries without any sort of changes," Mr Dmitriev said during an online press conference.
"The price of Sputnik V is less than USD 10 per shot, making it affordable around the world. This price is half to one-third of other vaccines that have the efficacy of more than 90 per cent. Only Sputnik has efficacy more than 90 per cent of vaccines that can be delivered at 2 to 8 degrees celsius logistics supply chain," he added.
Dmitriev said they focused on a vaccine that will be affordable to the world, is safe, efficient, but also will have easy logistics.
"We would never have done a vaccine at minus 70 degrees because we understand it's not accessible to most of the world. So Sputnik V is an accessible vaccine. We believe it's accessible and affordable to all of the nations in the world and that has been the focus from the beginning," he said.
He said safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.
"Over 1.5 million people have already been vaccinated with Sputnik V," he said, adding that there are no strong allergies caused.
He said developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine, he said.
"The storage temperature of Sputnik V means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure," he said.
Asked about the availability of vaccine in India, RDIF spokesperson said they cannot comment.
"You know that Phase 3 is undergoing," the spokesperson said.
Dmitriev said Sputnik V has been approved in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay and Turkmenistan and the process to approve the vaccine in the EU has been initiated.
RDIF said on Thursday that UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) has authorized the use of Sputnik V vaccine.