A consignment of about three million (30 lakh) doses of Sputnik V vaccine arrived at the Hyderabad airport on Tuesday morning.
The freight of 56.6 tonne weight is stated by the GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC) officials as the largest import shipment of Covid-19 vaccines handled in India to date.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the custodian of the Russian made vaccine in India, has received the first consignment of 1.5 lakh doses on May 1.
The Drug Controller General of India approved the restricted emergency use of Sputnik V in April, amid a severe shortage of the domestically manufactured Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.
Speaking to DH, Dr Reddy's co-chairman and managing director GV Prasad had said that the Sputnik V imports will accelerate further after 15 June and that in September, “we will have quite a sizable number of Sputnik V doses available in the country.”
The pharma major is in an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to supply 250 million imported doses in India (to fully vaccinate 125 million people) and also manage the domestic production and distribution to commence later this year.
Following the regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, the very first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine was administered in the country on 14 May, as part of a pilot launch in Hyderabad.
The imported vaccines are priced at about Rs 995 per dose (including a 5 % GST). DRL said there is a “possibility of a lower price point when local supply begins.”
The Russian vaccine would be produced in India at six sites – Hetero Drugs, Virchow Biotech, Panacea Biotec, Gland Pharma, Stelis Biopharma, and Shilpa Biologicals.
“The output from the six manufacturing units is meant to cater to both domestic demand and also global exports,” Prasad said.
Shilpa Biologicals has reportedly targeted production of 50 million doses in the first 12 months from its Dharwad unit, while the Bengaluru located Stelis Biopharma would supply a minimum of 200 million doses.
Hyderabad airport- Vaccine import hub
Sputnik V consignment arrived on a specially chartered freighter from Russia in the wee hours of Tuesday. The shipment completed all the processes and was dispatched from the Hyderabad airport within 90 minutes.
“According to DRL, the shipment contains three million vaccine doses,” a GMR official told DH.
The Sputnik V vaccine needs specialised handling and storage at - 20° C temperature.
“Major pharma companies based in and around Hyderabad are expected to produce or import over 3.5 billion doses of different varieties of Covid-19 vaccines over the next couple of years and we have been gearing up to handle the shipment surge,” GHAC, “the largest vaccine import hub for India,” said in a statement.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks