On July 21, Russia said in an announcement that the first test batch of its COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V was successfully produced in Vietnam.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has stated that the test batch was developed in partnership with Vabiotech, the Southeast Asian country’s government-owned pharmaceutical firm.
Furthermore, it informed that the batch’s first samples are set to be shipped to Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia for the purpose of quality control checks.
The sovereign wealth fund’s CEO Kirill Dmitriev added, “RDIF and VABIOTECH are actively cooperating in the technology transfer process to provide easier access to Sputnik V for the population of Vietnam.”
He continued saying that the end of the pandemic was not near and since more “dangerous” variants of the coronavirus are being identified in the world, RDIF has been focusing on the advancement of capacities for Sputnik V production to increase the pace of vaccination with “one of the best vaccines” in the word.
VABIOTECH’s President, Dat Tuan Do, welcomed the announcement and said that it would allow Vietnam and other nations in the region to get quality as well as affordable COVID-19 vaccines.
Moreover, the RDIF has entered into an agreement with India, which is expected to produce several hundred million doses every year. As per the fund, 68 countries have approved the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus. It has also applied for registration in the European Union (EU).
