Nod for Sputnik vaccine soon: Dr Reddy's

Hyderabad: Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories expects the Russian-made Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, to get approval from the Indian regulator in the next few weeks. "We expect to get the approval in the next few weeks.

It is a two-dose vaccine. You take the first dose on day zero and the second one on day 21. The peak immunity develops somewhere between day 28 to day 42.

So, it is a two-dose vaccine and we expect it to be available in the next few weeks," according to Deepak Sapra, the company's CEO, APIs and Services.

Sapra, who was speaking in a webinar on Tuesday, was asked as to how soon Sputnik would be available and whether it is a one-dose or two doses vaccine.

Observing that trials of the vaccine have been conducted in Russia, India, the UAE and others, he said the Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated an efficacy of 91.6% according to the journal Lancet.

The data on trials is currently with the Indian regulator and the firm expects it to get approved in the next few weeks, he added.

"Now, what we have done in India, in addition to all this, we also conducted trials in India and evaluated the vaccine on the Indian population for both safety as well as for immunogenicity.

This data is currently with the Indian regulator and we expect it to get approved in the next few weeks," he said. Dr Reddy's has partnered with the Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to bring the Sputnik V vaccine to India and other nations.

The webinar on "India's vaccination journey and the second wave of Covid-19' was conducted by the All India Professional Congress (AIPC), Telangana.