Dr. Reddy's eyes Sputnik vaccine exports after domestic struggle
Dr. Reddy’ Laboratories is in talks with partners to export domestically made doses of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik, after New Delhi recently approved shipments of other shots, the firm said on Monday.
Dr. Reddy’ Laboratories is in talks with partners to export domestically made doses of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik, after New Delhi recently approved shipments of other shots, the firm said on Monday.
As the main Indian distributor of Sputnik, sold only on the private market, Dr. Reddy’s has struggled to compete with vaccines that the government distributes free.
It makes up barely 1 million of a national total of 1.2 billion administered doses, while the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India accounts for nearly 90% of that figure, followed by home-grown Covaxin.
Now Dr Reddy`s is focusing on the single-dose Sputnik Light, as a booster shot or standalone, instead of the two-dose Sputnik V, a spokesperson said.
See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:
"We are also in discussion with our partners to take Sputnik to other countries, mostly in the Asia-Pacific region and in certain countries of Africa, Latin America and Central America," the spokesperson added in an email.
Last month India resumed exports of COVID-19 vaccines for the first time since it banned shipments in April in a bid to focus on inoculating its own population after infections rocketed.
Dr. Reddy`s said it failed to capitalise on India’s vaccine demand in the middle of the year because supplies of the second dose of Sputnik V fell short.
Unlike most vaccines, its two doses are different and Indian drugmakers have found it difficult to produce the second one.
"The yields were low, they were not reproducible," the firm’s co-chairman, G.V. Prasad, said in a recent interview. "Usual biological processes – they don’t usually behave predictably."
Prasad said the company was trying to see if it could make the second Sputnik V dose commercially, in what would be its first vaccine production in more than two decades.
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
Power of Compounding: How many years will it take to reach Rs 3 crore corpus if your monthly SIP is Rs 4,000, Rs 5,000, or Rs 6,000
Power of Compounding: Salary Rs 25,000 per month; is it possible to create over Rs 2.60 crore corpus; understand it through calculations
Reduce Home Loan EMI vs Reduce Tenure: Rs 75 lakh, 25-year loan; which option can save Rs 25 lakh and 64 months and how? Know here
Top 7 Large and Mid Cap Mutual Funds with Best SIP Returns in 5 Years: No. 1 fund has turned Rs 15,000 monthly SIP investment into Rs 20,54,384; know about others
New Year Pick by Anil Singhvi: This smallcap stock can offer up to 75% return in long term - Check targets
PSU Oil Stocks: Here's what brokerage suggests on these 2 largecap, 1 midcap scrips - Buy, Sell or Hold?
10:15 PM IST