Russia's Sputnik V to be cheaper than other vaccines; India to get priority: RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev

Russian vaccine Sputnik V is likely to be cheaper than other candidates. Moreover, India will get priority when it comes to the Russian vaccine, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund, has said. The first interim trial data analysis of Sputnik V against Covid-19 has shown that it is 92 per cent effective. Dmitriev, however, said if Indian regulators take time to clear the vaccine, it will be sent to other countries.

On nations hoarding vaccine stocks to meet their requirements first, Dmitriev said it is not about vaccine nationalism and that India is an important partner. He said manufacturers of its Covid-19 vaccine have been identified in India, the announcement regarding which will be made soon.

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Dmitriev said the company is currently finalising the cost of the coronavirus vaccine and assured that it will be lower than many other vaccines. RDIF is backing the Russian COVID-19 vaccine and marketing it globally.

Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is currently undergoing phase III testing stage in Belarus, UAE, Venezuela and other countries, while it is in phase II-III in India. The interim trial results regarding Sputnik V's efficacy were announced by RDIF on Wednesday. There were no untoward adverse events during the trials, it said, adding that monitoring of the participants is still going on. Interim results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine, the RDIF said.

Sputnik V's initial results are only the second to be published from a late-stage human trial in the global race to produce a vaccine that could halt a pandemic that has killed more than 1.2 million people and ravaged the world economy. Efficacy was demonstrated based on the first interim analysis obtained 21 days after the first injection.

Russia registered Sputnik V for public use in August, the first country to do so, though the approval came before the start of the large-scale trial in September. Russia's announcement follows swiftly on from results posted on Monday by vaccine developers Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, who said their shot was also more than 90% effective. The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and is designed to trigger an immune response without using pathogens, such as actual virus particles.

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