Drugmaker Dr Reddy's Laboratories said on 27 July that the locally manufactured COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccine is expected to be available in the September-October period.

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"The local manufacturers of Sputnik V vaccine are currently in the process of technology absorption and scale-up, and we expect that the vaccine will be available from September-October period," the pharma firm's CEO, Branded Markets (India & Emerging Markets), M.V. Ramana, said. He told reporters that due to the sudden spike of COVID-19 cases in Russia, the arrival of Sputnik V doses is getting delayed, and the company expects the situation to ease by August-end.

Dr Reddy's soft-launched the vaccine on May 14 after receiving Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in April. So far, the vaccine has been launched in about 80 cities and towns across India and over 2.5 lakh people have been administered the jab. It expects to ramp up vaccination from August onwards after receiving balance doses for the second jab. The Hyderabad-based drug maker, which has tied up with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RIDF) for Sputnik V in India, is in discussions for ramping up supplies. The RIDF has tied up with six Indian pharma companies to manufacture Sputnik V.

Ramana said Dr Reddy's will sell the first 125 million people doses (250 million vials). On single dose Sputnik Light, he said Dr Reddy's was in the process of receiving data on it. The company will be approaching the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under the Drugs Controller General of India with the updated data. As per the recommendation of the SEC, Dr Reddy's will be leveraging Russia Phase-3 trials. It is also waiting for the clinical data from the ongoing clinical trials of Sputnik V in Russia for 12-18 age group to seek approval in India. The trials in Russia are expected to be completed by October.