俄羅斯基金：印度最大的疫苗製造商生產衛星五號疫苗

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Russian fund: India's top vaccine maker to produce Sputnik V

Tue., July 13, 2021, 1:34 a.m.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's sovereign fund on Tuesday announced a deal with a top Indian vaccine manufacturer to produce the Russia-designed Sputnik V vaccine.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund, or RDIF, said its deal with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, envisages annual production of more than 300 million doses of the vaccine in India starting in September.

“This strategic partnership is a major step to substantially increase our production capabilities demonstrating a perfect example of joining forces and expertise to save lives both in India and around the world,” RDIF chief executive Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement.

The RDIF, which bankrolled Sputnik V and markets it abroad, has previously negotiated Sputnik V production deals with manufacturers in several countries, including India, South Korea, Brazil, China, Turkey, as well as Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Russia gave Sputnik V regulatory approval in August 2020, raising criticism at home and abroad because it had only been tested on a few dozen people at the time. However, the criticism was blunted by a report in the British medical journal The Lancet earlier this year that said large-scale testing showed it to be safe, with an efficacy rate of 91%.

President Vladimir Putin revealed last month that he had received the Sputnik V vaccine earlier this year.

“With high efficacy and a good safety profile, it is critical that the Sputnik vaccine is accessible in full measure for people across India and the world,” said Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India.

Dmitriev said that Sputnik V vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India will be supplied to the Indian market and also be exported to more than 60 countries that have registered for the Russian vaccine.

Translation

莫斯科（美聯社）——俄羅斯主權基金周二宣布與印度一家頂級疫苗製造商達成協議，生產俄羅斯設計的衛星 V 型疫苗(Sputnik V vaccine)。

俄羅斯直接投資基金 (RDIF) 表示，與世界上最大的疫苗製造商 - 印度血清研究所 (Serum Institute of India) - 達成的協議, 預計從 9 月開始在印度每年可生產超過 3 億劑疫苗。

RDIF 首席執行官Kirill Dmitriev 在一份聲明中說： “這種戰略夥伴關係是大幅提高我們生產能力的重要一步，展示了聯合力量和專業知識拯救印度和世界各地生命的完美例子。”

為衛星 V 型疫苗提供資金, 並將其推向國外市場的 RDIF 此前曾與多個國家的製造商談判過衛星 V 型疫苗的生產協議，包括印度、韓國、巴西、中國、土耳其以及白俄羅斯和哈薩克斯坦。

俄羅斯於 2020 年 8 月批准了監管使用衛星 V 型疫苗，這在國內外引起了批評，因為當時它僅在幾十人身上進行了測試。然而，英國醫學雜誌Lancet今年早些時候的一篇報導平息了批評。該報導稱大規模測試表明它是安全的，有效率為 91%。

普京總統上個月透露，他在今年早些時候接種了衛星五號疫苗。

印度血清研究所首席執行官Adar Poonawalla 表示：“憑藉高效和良好的安全性，印度和世界各地的人, 可以全面獲得人造衛星疫苗是至關重要。”

Dmitriev表示，印度血清研究所生產的衛星五號疫苗將供應印度市場，並將出口到60多個已註冊俄羅斯疫苗的國家。

              So, Russia's sovereign fund will manufacture the Russia-designed Sputnik V vaccine in India soon. Given the claimed efficacy of this vaccine, it will be a more attractive vaccine.  Yet I am wondering if this vaccine is so effective, WHO should have put it on the vaccine approval list.

Note: 

According to its official web-site, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) works alongside the world’s foremost investors to make direct investments in leading Russian companies. RDIF was created in 2011 under the leadership of the President and Prime Minister of Russia to co-invest alongside top global investors and to act as a catalyst for direct investment in Russia. RDIF has invested 2.1 trillion rubles for this purpose, out of which RDIF alone invested over 200 billion rubles while over 1.9 trillion rubles came from co-investors, partners and banks. RDIF also attracts over $40 billion of foreign capital into the Russian economy through long-term strategic partnerships. (https://rdif.ru/Eng_About/)