The two-dose Sputnik 5 vaccine costs less than $10 for each shot in international markets.
New Delhi:
The use of Russia’s Covid vaccine Sputnik V in India will be discussed by a committee of experts today. The vaccine, manufactured in India by Dr Reddy’s, has an effectiveness of 91.6 per cent, highest after the Moderna and Pfizer shots.
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Indian drug regulator will meet later today to consider granting emergency use approval to Sputnik V. In its last meeting on April 1, the committee had asked Dr Reddy’s to submit data on all immunogenicity parametres of the shot.
It had also asked unblinded data of all the serious adverse events as well as comparative analysis of phase III immunogenicity data generated on the Indian and Russian studies at various times.
Dr Reddy’s had applied on February 19 for emergency use of Sputnik-V, which is in Phase 3 of clinical trials in India, the UAE, Venezuela and Belarus.
In India, Sputnik-V trials are on for around 1,600 people between 18 and 99.
Sputnik-V, named after the first Soviet Space satellite, works on the principle of a weakened Covid virus delivering parts of a pathogen that triggers an immune response in the body.
The two-dose vaccine costs less than $10 for each shot in international markets.
The dry form of the vaccine can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees.