Morepen Labs begins trial production of Sputnik V

Drugmaker, Russian sovereign fund RDIF inked pact in June, tech transfer underway

Drugmaker Morepen Laboratories has started producing test batches of Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine against COVID-19, at its facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. The first batch will be shipped to Gamaleya Center, the vaccine developer, for quality control, said the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is bankrolling and globally marketing Sputnik. A statement said RDIF and Morepen had signed a cooperation agreement in June and are actively implementing the technology transfer. The number of doses Morepen would be manufacturing was, however, not specified. RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said “as the pandemic is yet far from over and new, more dangerous variants of coronavirus are being detected in various regions of the world, RDIF is increasing capacities for production of Sputnik V in India, one of the key hubs. Agreement with Morepen Laboratories provides for larger amount of Sputnik V to be available both for India and our partners globally.”