Manufacturer wants to team up with govt. hospitals for greater participation in vaccine programme
Of the three COVID vaccines available to eligible Indian adult population Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ COVID vaccine Sputnik V has managed to contribute only a minuscule percentage to India’s on-going COVID vaccination programme as per data on government’s CoWin platform.Now in what seems to be a bid to capture lost grounds Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, which in 2020 partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to bring the Sputnik vaccines to India, has approached the Drugs Controller General (India) for approval of Sputnik Light as a precautionary dose (booster dose) to Sputnik V. Dr. Reddy’s is the sole distributor of the Sputnik vaccines in India. The company has several manufacturing partners in India.The Company has infact a series of proposals pending with the DCGI including – clearance for Sputnik Light as a stand alone vaccine and clearance for starting trials for its use as a mix-match booster dose. After having partnered with private hospital chains initially, Dr. Reddy’s claims that it is now keen to work with the Government to enable greater participation in the vaccination programme.Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories confirmed the development stating that currently they have sufficient stocks and supply of Sputnik V and continue to supply to partners. It also refuted any allegations of vaccine shortage.For Sputnik Light, the Company said that Phase III clinical trial data of Sputnik Light has been submitted to the regulator, along with additional data from clinical trials for Sputnik Light from Russia and other countries.Sputnik V was soft launched in India in May 2021 after receiving Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in April 2021.Meanwhile, the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine was rolled out commercially from July 2021 onwards based on imported consignments from the RDIF.“In the June-August period, there were challenges with regard to the supply of the second dose component as imports were affected by the surge of COVID-19 cases in Russia,” explained the Company spokesperson in response to question about the low coverage of the vaccine in the on-going vaccination programme in India.He added that in early September, with supply of the second dose component commencing from a partner in India, the market supply received fresh momentum. “We were able to supply equivalent quantities of the first and second dose components to partner hospitals. By September, in terms of the market situation, with heavy scale-up in overall vaccine production in India and free distribution through the Government, private market sales overall started to see a sharp dip and Sputnik V was solely private,” he explained.The Company added that Sputnik has demonstrated superior protection against the Omicron variant, with higher virus neutralising activity than the comparable vaccines in an independent comparative study conducted by the Spallanzani Institute in Italy. “Sputnik Light significantly increases virus neutralising activity against Omicron based on sera tested after revaccination with 100% of individuals revaccinated with Sputnik Light as a booster having developed neutralizing antibodies against this variant,” said the Company.