Nearly eight months after it struck a deal with Russia's Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the expert panel has recommended granting an approval for the company to administer the Sputnik V vaccine in India
Photo by: Harsha Vadlamani
In September last year, amidst all the uncertainties about the raging coronavirus pandemic, GV Prasad, the co-chairman and managing director of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, India’s third largest pharmaceutical company, took a big gamble.
His company struck a deal with Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, to manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine in India. Back then, there was no efficacy data surrounding the vaccine, even though Russia had begun inoculating its people with the vaccine and approved wide scale production. It was certainly a big gamble, especially since questions were being asked in the scientific world about the claims surrounding the efficacy of the vaccine.
“The vaccine has become a target of politics, but we will go with the science,” Prasad had told Forbes India immediately after partnering with the Russian government. “We have all the data. The Lancet published an article. It’s quite transparent what they’re trying to do, and I don’t see that as a concern.”
Today, eight months later, that gamble seems to have finally paid off. On April 12, a Subject expert committee (SEC) of India’s health ministry has recommended granting an emergency use authorisation to the Sputnik V manufactured by Dr Reddy after the company submitted the immunogenicity data. The SEC is part of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) headed by the Drugs Controller General of India. The latter will take the final call on the approval based on the SEC's recommendation. If approved, the Sputnik V will be the third Covid-19 vaccine to be available in India.