DCGI approval for Sputnik V vaccine expected in next few weeks: Dr Reddy’s official

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories expects the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to get approval from the Indian regulator in the next few weeks, a company official has said.

“We expect to get 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,” Deepak Sapra, the company’s CEO, APIs and Services, said.

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

Dr Reddy’s has partnered with the Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to bring the Sputnik V vaccine to India and other countries, he said.

Observing that trials of the vaccine have been conducted in Russia, India, the UAE and others, he said the vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 91.6 per cent as published in the reputed journal Lancet.

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