Sputnik V Vaccines Arrive In India, Clinical Trials To Begin Shortly

Hyderabad: The Russian Sputnik V vaccine has arrived in India following the nod to the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories will conduct an adaptive phase 2/3 human clinical trial for the vaccine in India.

A video of small containers having the logo of Dr. Reddy's and Sputnik V being unloaded from a vehicle went viral on social media.

Coronavirus vaccine update... Russian Vaccine Sputnik V arrive in India, clinical trials shortly...#CoronaVirusUpdates #SputnikV #gujarat #Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/roEhTRecba

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The New Indian Express quoted a senior official of Dr. Reddy's confirming that the vaccines have arrived in India and said that the clinical trials will also start shortly.

Earlier on Wednesday, health ministry announced that Sputnik V vaccine has shown 92 per cent efficacy in preventing COVID-19, according to interim trial results. The announcement follows results unveiled earlier this week by vaccine developers Pfizer and BioNTech, who said their vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective at preventing COVID-19.

The calculation is based on the 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo, said Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

The efficacy of the vaccine, developed by the Gamalaya Centre, was demonstrated on the basis of a first interim analysis obtained 21 days after the first injection.

There were no unexpected adverse events during the trials. Monitoring of the participants is ongoing, the ministry said.

The interim research data of Sputnik V has not been published or peer-reviewed yet.

As per the information shared by Dr. Reddy's earlier, this will be a multi-center and randomized controlled study which will include safety and immunogenicity study.

In September Dr. Reddy’s entered into a partnership with the RDIF for the conduct of clinical trials of Sputnik V in India and its distribution here.

As part of the partnership, RDIF will supply 10 crore doses of the vaccine to Dr. Reddy’s upon regulatory approval.

(With Agency Inputs)