India’s third vaccine.

India set to get third vaccine as expert panel clears Sputnik; awaits SEC yes

Yet to receive SEC communication on Sputnik V approval: Reddy’s Lab

Agency Report | Hyderabad | 12 April, 2021 | 11:20 PM

Amid reports that the subject expert committee (SEC) has approved Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) application for the Russian vaccine candidate Sputnik V to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic, the city-based company is yet to receive official communication about the approval.

“There is no approval received yet. We are still awaiting the statement from the SEC. Once we get something, we will release a statement,” a DRL official said on Monday.

He said that the SEC has to first pass on the recommendation to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and then the latter has to give the nod.

The pharmaceutical major is expecting that this process might take a day or two.

When quizzed on the company’s preparedness to produce the vaccine in large numbers, the official said ‘we will be releasing details as and when we get some input there (from SEC and DCGI)’.

This development comes at a time when several Indian states are facing severe vaccine shortage and is a positive development.

Meanwhile, Dr. Reddy’s scrip rallied on the bourses, reacting to the approval news reports.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund said it is “awaiting imminently” the recommendation by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to approve the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in the country.

The comment by RDIF came amid reports that India has approved the Sputnik vaccine.

“RDIF confirms it is awaiting imminently the recommendation by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) of India to approve the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in India,” RDIF told IANS.

The RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, recently announced the results of a YouGov survey with 9,417 respondents from 9 countries on their vaccine preferences and country of preference in terms of vaccine production.

According to the survey, 54 per cent of respondents who selected a country they trust to produce a vaccine, considered Russia the most trusted vaccine producer alongside the US and leaving the UK behind, when asked to choose the 3 countries they trusted the most to produce a vaccine.

Sputnik V, the world’s first registered vaccine against coronavirus, is the most recognizable one – over 7 in 10 (74 per cent) of those surveyed have heard of the Russian vaccine. Sputnik V is also among Top-2 most preferred vaccines, just after the one produced by Pfizer/BioNTech.

The survey was conducted between February 18 and March 3 by YouGov, the leading UK-based company in market research and data analytics in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Residents of India, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, Argentina, Algeria, the UAE and Serbia participated in the poll. More than 2 billion people, or over 25 per cent of the world’s population, live in these countries.

Meanwhile, a government expert panel has given its nod to emergency use authorisation of Russian-made Covid vaccine, Sputnik-V, in India, Union Health Ministry sources said.

After the Drug Controller General of India gives assent to the Subject Expert Committee’s approval, the sources said, India will have a third Covid vaccine after AstraZeneca-Oxford University developed-Serum Institute of India-manufactured Covishield and Bharat Biotech-developed and manufactured Covaxin.

Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) Dr N.K. Arora said: “Though I am yet to receive any official information about its approval, but it would be good news for India if it is approved.”

Explaining features of this vaccine, Arora said: “Sputnik is a two-dose vaccine. The composition of the first dose will be different from the second dose and there should be at least a three to four weeks gap between the first dose and the second. The published data suggest that it has 91 per cent efficacy. Some more clarity on it will also come soon.”

The development has come at a time when India is witnessing an exponential surge in Covid-19 cases and vaccines have been much in demand. (IANS)