"RDIF has been actively involved in fighting COVID-19 through working on healthcare projects. Before the pandemic, a number of healthcare projects have been launched as part of the fund’s investment strategy aimed at improving general quality of life. Further development of healthcare investment is the next stage in the process," the press release read.
Nina Kandelaki, the former regional manager for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at GE Healthcare, one of the leading manufacturers of medical equipment globally, was appointed the director of the RDIF Healthcare program.
RDIF's press service recalled that since the start of 2020, the fund had focused its efforts on three key areas in fighting COVID-19: testing systems, treatment drugs and a vaccine. It is noted that great results have been achieved in all three areas thanks to the international partnership network and accumulated internal expertise.
RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said that while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the fund saw a huge demand for new investments in the health care sector in Russia and abroad.
"These investments will help us defeat the current pandemic we are facing in the near term, but also to provide a platform for us to be better prepared to deal with potential threats to human health in the more distant future. We are ready to form new partnerships and provide investments in telemedicine, production of new drugs, treatment of oncological diseases, research and production of new vaccines, as well as education of doctors and medical workers," Dmitriev said, as quoted by the press service.
RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is currently engaged in the industrial production of Sputnik V, the world’s first registered vaccine against the coronavirus, developed by Russia's Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
