New Delhi: After approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), pharma giant Dr Reddy's Laboratories is set to test the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19  on 100  volunteers in India. A report by ANI has quoted Russian News agency Sputnik in which the DCGI has said that it has granted permission to Dr Reddy's Laboratories for conducting the tests. However, the date and time of the test will be determined by the company.

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The regulatory body had earlier turned down the first testing proposal to conduct mid to late-stage clinical human trials of the Russian vaccine by the pharma company.

Sputnik V is an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, which was developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund and registered on August 11. In September 2020, Dr. Reddy’s Lab and RDIF entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials and distribute the vaccine in the country. As part of the agreement, the RDIF will supply 100 million doses of the Vaccine to the country upon approval.

After the testing is complete and the vaccine is approved, the RDIF will be supplying 100 million doses of Sputnik V to Dr. Reddy’s lab. As Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine, the RDIF spokesperson made it clear in a statement that, 100 million doses are meant for 100 million people. As the Sputnik V contains two shots of different common cold Adenovirus.
In Russia around 40,000 subjects are going through phase three clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and the UAE also started the phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine last week. The vaccine was registered on August 11 and Russia is the only country so far to announce a vaccine against Covid 19. But the fast regulatory approval has raised concerns about the safety of the vaccine.