03/19/2021 8:52 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 03/19/2021 8:52 AM
The Russian sovereign wealth fund (RDIF), in charge of developing the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, announced on Friday that it signed an agreement with an Indian pharmaceutical group
to produce at least 200 million doses of this drug.
The RDIF, which partly financed the development of the vaccine, indicated that it had partnered with Stelis Biopharma, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical group Strides, to produce from the third quarter of 2021 "a minimum of 200 million doses of Sputnik V,
sufficient to vaccinate 100 million people. "
A precedent agreement between RDIF and the Indian group Hetero was signed in November
to produce more than 100 million doses per year of Sputnik V.
The increase in the production of the Russian vaccine is good news for Argentina, at a time when the number of doses that have reached the country has been very low compared to the announcements made by the Government.
President Alberto Fernández himself admitted to the national chain the lack of vaccines: "Is everything turning out as we expected? No," Fernández said during a 12-minute recorded message in which he took stock after a year of the announcement of the quarantine in the country.
This Friday a new flight from Moscow will arrive in Argentina, although the number of doses of Sputnik V it will bring is still unknown.
The Russian vaccine, already authorized by some 50 countries in the world, is not yet approved in India, where clinical trials are underway.
But Moscow wants to diversify the sources of production for its vaccine since its own capacities are still somewhat limited in the face of international demand.
"The significant volume of vaccine produced jointly with Stelis will contribute to expanding access to the vaccine globally," said the head of the fund, Kiril Dmitriyev, quoted in the statement.
Sputnik V was initially greeted with skepticism outside Russia, but its efficacy was endorsed by the scientific journal
The Lancet
in February.
Right now, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is examining the drug.
With information from AFP.
JPE
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