07/01/2021 10:01
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 07/01/2021 10:11
Marcelo Figueiras, president of Laboratorios Richmond, announced that next week they would be
"releasing
the first batch ready to apply"
of component 1 of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V against the coronavirus packaged in the country.
The businessman said that last week Richmond began to produce a first batch of
450,000 doses of component 1
, and that this week it is finishing another, of 525,000.
"We estimate that next week we would be releasing the first batch ready for application, and the second batch of 550,000 would be the following week, if there is no delay," said Figueiras this Thursday in dialogue with Radio con Vos.
At the same time, he explained that from the agreement with Russia, "each party has to go and return to [the Center] Gamaleya."
When asked about component 2 of the Russian vaccine against covid-19, Figueiras explained: “As for us, with the second dose it is the same final productive procedure.” However, he clarified, at the beginning of the process For component 2, the part that is made in Russia for now, there is "an
industrial problem in the fermentation
": it yields much less.
The majority partner of Richmond recalled that next Monday his firm will begin the packaging of a first batch of component 2 and that they already have
raw material
for a second batch.
He believes that in the coming weeks they will reach the first million doses of component 2 produced here, which will await the release by the Gamaleya Center and the Anmat to begin to apply.
The memorandum of understanding between Richmond and the Russian Direct Investment Fund to begin producing Sputnik V in Argentina was signed in February.
Photo: REUTERS.
Regarding the production volumes of his laboratory, he estimated that "
500 thousand doses per week
would be the standard", and that they could escalate to "five million doses per month." But he made a caveat: "When you produce this type of medicine, you have to validate every move you make ”.
"The good news is that all the vaccines in the world are working," celebrated Figueiras.
Asked about the possibility that in August there will be a million doses of component 2 leaving the Richmond laboratory in Argentina, Figueiras assured: "Yes, calmly and
there should also be more
."
Figueiras explained that the new plant of his laboratory located in the municipality of Pilar, in the province of Buenos Aires, is "a multiplatform project" to make different types of vaccines.
And he said, along these lines, that
"the WHO is looking for producers"
and that they are not limited to working with Gamaleya for Sputnik V. His firm could produce for Pfizer and for other laboratories, he stated.
He also predicted that, if it becomes an annual vaccination plan, "some
14 billion vaccines
[per year]
will be needed
for the world."
The Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, the presidential advisor, Cecilia Nicolini and the president of Laboratorios Richmond, Marcelo Figueiras.
The agreement with Gamaleya
Packaging of the first batch of Sputnik V active ingredient that arrived from Moscow
began on June 9
.
On that occasion, Figueiras said that the scientists from the Gamaleya Institute were "20 days in the analysis process."
Each batch of vaccines packaged in the country must be
approved by the Gamaleya Institute
in Moscow, so the procedure will be repeated every week.
A sample is packaged and sent to certify the quality.
The memorandum of understanding between Richmond and the Russian Direct Investment Fund to start producing Sputnik V in Argentina was signed in February.
Finally, on April 20, the definitive agreement was announced, in which
exports to nine other
Latin American
countries
were contemplated
.
The next step after packaging will be that the laboratory can take over the
entire production process
.
For that, the laboratory builds a new plant in Pilar.
"The new plant is designed to produce up to
500 million doses per year
and there it could be done from the active ingredient to packaging, that is, complete production," said Figueiras.
LGP
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