Russia set to produce COVID-19 vaccine in Italy
A nurse shows the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 at a clinic in Moscow.
Russia has signed a deal to produce its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Italy, the first contract in the European Union, the Italian Russian Chamber of Commerce announced on Tuesday.
The deal was signed with Adienne Srl, the Italian subsidiary of a Swiss-based pharmaceutical company, and Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Production of a planned 10 million doses this year is set to launch in July.
“The innovative production process will help create new jobs and allow Italy to control the entire production of the compound,’’ the chamber said in a statement. Financial terms were not released.
Sputnik V has not yet been approved for use in the EU, but the body’s regulator, the European Medicines Agency, started a rolling review of the vaccine last week.
Russian authorities are working on 20 similar collaborations in Europe and the Sputnik V vaccine has been registered in 45 countries worldwide.
The EU has been criticized for its slow vaccine rollout and some EU nations have decided not to wait for the EMA’s approval.
Hungary became the first EU country to authorize Sputnik V last month while Slovakia announced a deal last week to acquire 2 million Sputnik V doses and received the first shipment of 200,000 doses.
Despite skepticism about Russia’s hasty introduction of the vaccine, which was rolled out before it had completed late-stage trials, the vaccine appears to be safe and effective.
According to a study published last month in the leading medical journal Lancet, Sputnik V is 91 percent effective and appears to prevent inoculated individuals from becoming severely ill with COVID-19, although it’s still unclear if the vaccine can prevent the spread of the disease.
With a global shortage, some experts say boosting the use of Russian vaccines could offer a quicker way to increase supply.
The EU commission does not yet have plans for a collective purchase of Sputnik V doses, relying instead on deals already made with other makers.
It has made clear member states can reach separate agreements as long as they don’t compete with the commission’s advance purchase deals for 2 billion doses.
