AgenciesMumbai: Russian Development Investment Fund (RDIF), which is backing the Sputnik V vaccine, on Thursday said it expects to register the vaccine in India soon and will price it at less than $10 per dose. Kirill Dimitriev, chief executive of RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, told ET that the price of the Sputnik V vaccine is a fourth of what mRNA vaccines with over 90% efficacy cost.
“We believe that you know there needs to be equal access, equal pricing to all of the countries without any sort of changes. Now this price is one-half to one-third of other vaccines that have efficacy of more than 90%,” Dimitriev said. “So vaccines of Moderna and with over 90% efficacy are double and triple the price of our vaccine.” Sputnik V has been developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, which is backed by RDIF. The vaccine uses two adenovirus vectors which, RDIF said, gives better efficacy. The company is also doing trials with on this vaccine.
RDIF told ET that its pricing point makes sense considering the storage requirement is +2 to +8 degrees Celsius for stability of the vaccine, which is important for logistics. Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s is conducting the clinical trial of the vaccine in India and it went into phase 3 stage earlier this month. The company is expected to file for emergency approval by early March. On Thursday, the UAE and Hungary registered the vaccine in their countries, with Hungary becoming the first EU nation to do so.
“We believe that you know there needs to be equal access, equal pricing to all of the countries without any sort of changes. Now this price is one-half to one-third of other vaccines that have efficacy of more than 90%,” Dimitriev said. “So vaccines of Moderna and with over 90% efficacy are double and triple the price of our vaccine.” Sputnik V has been developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, which is backed by RDIF. The vaccine uses two adenovirus vectors which, RDIF said, gives better efficacy. The company is also doing trials with on this vaccine.
RDIF told ET that its pricing point makes sense considering the storage requirement is +2 to +8 degrees Celsius for stability of the vaccine, which is important for logistics. Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s is conducting the clinical trial of the vaccine in India and it went into phase 3 stage earlier this month. The company is expected to file for emergency approval by early March. On Thursday, the UAE and Hungary registered the vaccine in their countries, with Hungary becoming the first EU nation to do so.
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1 Comment on this Story
 | ZEN DAHODI40 days ago When syram Institute has committed to provide required doses of the Astra Zeneca'S COVSHIELD Vaccine for a $3; why we have to pay $10 for the Russian vaccine? Modi ji is playing politics in selecting different vaccines throwing out hundreds of million dollars of tax money. Chinese vaccine is still cheaper and Russia is buying it for saving her tax money. Why we cannot? |
