02/26/2021 11:29 AM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 02/26/2021 12:01 PM
While the Government tries to leave behind the scandal over the VIP vaccination, the Argentine laboratory Richmond announced that it has signed an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce the vaccine against the Sputnik V coronavirus in Argentina.
"
It is a process of a year
, at least, with which it is not to create expectations now but tomorrow not to fall back on waiting for vaccines to arrive from outside and have a local production," said Marcelo Figueiras, director from the laboratory.
Figueiras explained in dialogue with Radio Miter that the production "will be carried out with the participation of Hetero Labs Limited, a laboratory established in the Republic of India, with whom Laboratorios Richmond SACIF has had a strategic alliance for more than 25 years".
"We made developments together such as the HIV products, our latest launches were in combination with them with raw materials from there and a finished product in Argentina and now with biotechnology products," said Figueiras, while celebrating that
this alliance paved the path with Gamaleya
who "is doomed to the scale of production and cannot be dealing with the transfer of technology."
For the production of Sputnik V in Argentina, Richmond will build
a new plant
in the Buenos Aires town of Pilar, which will require about a year.
Regarding the financing to achieve this agreement and the construction of a new plant, Figueiras explained that it is "a mix of own capital and local partners who are willing to bet on this great cause, it is a very expensive project between
60 and 90 million dollars
”and that"
there is no state money
. "
The changes in the process between the agreement and the materialization of the vaccines manufactured in Argentina, they clarify from Richmond, will depend "on how the discussions are approached and continue" and they expanded: "That is why there is the partner from India who is already made the transfer of technology to manufacture there and has been solving all these months the problems surrounding the transfers.
If we do the final process it will be faster, if we have to ferment there it will be a little slower ”.
"We are talking about biological products that have a very great complexity and great care, that is why we decided to work together with experienced partners", stated Figueiras.
Asked about the commercialization and distribution in Argentina of the Sputnik V doses, he confided: “We will have to determine the commercialization over time.
My dream is to manufacture the vaccine for Argentina at an adequate cost, as low as possible
.
"
"It is being said that 70% of the world's population must be vaccinated, although industry and science were at the height of the circumstances, the production capacity is not enough, the glass is not enough to make this amount of vaccines that is why it is important that we have our own production and local development to face this pandemic ”, he added.
Regarding the new Richmond plant, he explained that they expect to manufacture "100 million doses" although he clarified: "If you have to ferment it will be 22 million doses at the beginning
it is always scalable because they are plants that are adapting
."
"We want to be able to
supply other countries,
" the laboratory president enthused.
JPE
Look also
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