Morepen Laboratories produces test batch of Sputnik V Covid vaccine

Morepen Laboratories and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced the production of the test batch of the Russian Sputnik V Covid vaccine in an exclusive facility in Himachal Pradesh, India.

According to Morepen Laboratories, the first batch of the coronavirus vaccines will be shipped to the Gamaleya Center for quality control purpose.

The Indian pharma manufacturer had signed a cooperation agreement with RDIF last month and the parties are said to be actively executing the technology transfer.

Sushil Suri – Chairman and Managing Director of Morepen Laboratories said: “We are a delighted to partner with RDIF for the prestigious project of Sputnik V production in India. This would be our privilege to work jointly on expanding the production base in India.

“We take this partnership as starting point for long term relationship with RDIF and its partner companies as we look forward for many more areas of common interest. Morepen’s commitment towards this project is step forward towards entry into biosimilars and other biologicals.”

Morepen Laboratories produces test batch of Sputnik V Covid vaccine. Photo courtesy of The Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Sputnik V was issued an emergency use authorization in India in April 2021. RDIF had agreements in place with various Indian pharma companies such as Gland Pharma, Panacea Biotec, Hetero Biopharma, Virchow Biotech, and Stelis Biopharma for the production of the Sputnik V covid vaccine in India.

All the agreements made by RDIF in India cover the production of over 850 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine per year.

Kirill Dmitriev – CEO of RDIF said: “As the pandemic is yet far from over and new, more dangerous variants of coronavirus are being detected in various regions of the world, RDIF is increasing capacities for production of Sputnik V in India, one of the key hubs.

“Agreement with Morepen Laboratories provides for larger amount of Sputnik V to be available both for India and our partners globally to speed up the vaccination with one of the best vaccines in the world.”