On Monday, India became the 60th country to authorise use of Sputnik V. The Russian vaccine, developed by Moscow-based Gamaleya National Center, became the third vaccine registered in India along with the locally-produced variant of AstraZeneca vaccine branded Covieshield, and India’s Covaxin.
"Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. … today announced that it has received the permission from the Drug Controller General of India(DCGI) to import the Sputnik vaccine into India for restricted use in emergency situations as per the provisions of the New Drug and Clinical Trials rules, 2019 under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act," the press release, published on the website of Bombay Stock Exchange, said.
GV Prasad, the company’s co-chairman and managing director, said that the enterprise was "very pleased to obtain the emergency use authorisation for Sputnik V in India" given that vaccines are the best instrument to contain the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
In September 2020, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories signed an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which promotes Sputnik V, to conduct clinical tests of the vaccine in India. In addition, RDIF has contracts with five Indian producers — Hetero Biopharma, Gland Pharma, Stelis Biopharma, Virchow Biotech, and Panacea Biotec — on the vaccine’s manufacturing.
