First batches of the Sputnik V vaccine produced in Uzbekistan by Jurabek Laboratories

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund), and one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of Uzbekistan, Jurabek Laboratories, today announced the first batches of the Russian Sputnik vaccine against coronavirus have been produced at company's facilities.

RDIF has organized the technology transfer for production of the vaccine in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Validation batches have been shipped to the Gamaleya Center for quality control. Commercial production of Sputnik V is subject to successful quality control of the validation batches.

The vaccine produced in Uzbekistan will be used in the national vaccination program. Sputnik V was certified in the country in February 2021.

To date, the Sputnik V vaccine has been registered in 69 countries globally with a total population of over 3.7 bn people. The data obtained by regulators of a number of countries during the vaccination of the population, including in Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, Mexico, San Marino, UAE and others, demonstrates that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against coronavirus.

Sputnik V is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented:

"Sputnik V is successfully used in Uzbekistan to fight coronavirus. The vaccine has proven highly effective and safe in many countries around the world. Local production of Sputnik V in Uzbekistan will help speed up the vaccination of the population providing for strong and durable immunity, including against new variants of COVID."

Munira Karieva, CEO of Jurabek Laboratories, said:

"We are very pleased that our facility was selected as a partner site for the production of the Sputnik V vaccine as a result of the assessment audit thus providing us with an opportunity to contribute to the fight against the pandemic. We are confident that the localization of production will increase the supply of highly demanded Sputnik V vaccine."

Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:

• Efficacy of Sputnik V is 97.6% based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020 to March 31, 2021;

• The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.

• Sputnik V has pioneered the use of heterogeneous boosting (two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination among COVID vaccines). This approach provides for immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

• The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.

• There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.

• Sputnik V can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling RUB 2.1 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 1 mn people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia's GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn.