The Serum Institute of India (SII) has sought permission from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India.
The Pune-based vaccine maker, which also produces Covishield, has also sought approval for test analysis and examination.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is currently being manufactured in India by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
“The Serum Institute of India (SII) put up an application to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Wednesday seeking permission to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in India,” a source told PTI.
The SII had earlier informed the government that it would manufacture and supply 10 crore Covishield doses in June.
A consignment of 30 lakh doses of Sputnik V landed in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The Sputnik V vaccine requires specialised handling and storage. It needs to be kept at a temperature of -20 C.
The Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) is an adenoviral-based, two-part vaccine. Sputnik V uses a weakened virus to deliver small parts of a pathogen and stimulate an immune response.
To ensure lasting immunity, Sputnik uses two different types of adenovirus vectors (rAd26 and rAd5) for the first and second vaccination, which is said to boost the effectiveness of the vaccine.