Coronavirus vaccine: Govt plans to manufacture Russia's Sputnik V in India

The government may allow manufacturing of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, by the Indian pharma companies, said Dr VK Paul, a member of NITI Aayog. He added the Centre was also planning to begin the Phase 3 trial of Russia's vaccine, the world's first registered COVID-19 vaccine.

"We are paving way Phase-3 trial or bridging studies, as per requirements of the regulatory system, to be facilitated by the government of India," Dr Paul told media.

Dr Paul informed the Russian government has approached India to facilitate the Phase-3 trial of their vaccine and also manufacture Sputnik V through Indian companies.

It is a "win-win situation" for India and the world, he said, underlining the county's ability to manufacture high-quality vaccines in large and significant quantities.

Meanwhile, the first batch of Sputnik V has been released for public circulation in Russia on Tuesday.

On 11 August, the world's first vaccine against the COVID-19, 'Sputnik V', was registered by the Russian government. The vaccine is developed by Gamaleya National Research Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Recently, a prominent medical journal the Lancet also claimed that early results from trials of Russia's potential coronavirus vaccine showed no major side effects.

The Lancet study reported, "The two 42-day trials -- including 38 healthy adults each -- did not find any serious adverse effects among participants, and confirmed that the vaccine candidates elicit an antibody response".

As far as vaccine development in India is concerned, Dr Paul said three candidates are in different stages of clinical trials.

Currently, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates -- one by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the other by Zydus Cadila Ltd -- have completed Phase 1 of the human clinical trial and moved to Phase 2.

The Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with AstraZeneca for manufacturing the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has also started the process of conducting Phase-2 and 3 human clinical trials of the candidate.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: First batch of Russia's Sputnik V released for public

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