India is likely to receive the first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine on 1st May. According to the head of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, “five Indian companies have signed agreement for manufacturing of over 850 million doses of Sputnik V in India.”
RDIF has said that the production of the Russian vaccine will reach around 50 million doses in the months of June-July.
Meanwhile the Russian pharmaceutical company, Pharmasyntez has announced that it is ready to ship around 1 million packs of Remdesivir antiviral drug to India by the end of May. It is currently awaiting approval from the Russian government.
Apart from Sputnik V, DGCI has also approved the ‘emergency use’ of another drug, Virafin, to treat Covid-19. It is a Hepatitis C drug manufactured by Zydus Cadila. It is an antiviral drugs which helps in treatment of adult asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.