India will produce 300 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine next year

• Russia has signed up with four large manufacturers in India to produce 300 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in 2021.
• This triples the amount of the vaccine that Russia has initially contracted to be manufactured in India.
• According to the Russian Embassy, the first samples of the COVID-19 vaccine produced in India are already being tested by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Russia has signed on four large manufacturers to produce a whopping 300 million doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in India. This is a three-fold increase in the manufacturing of Sputnik V doses from before.

"In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. ... India will produce about 300 mln doses or more of the vaccine for us next year," said Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) chief Kirill Dmitriev.

One of the manufacturers is Hetero Biopharma, which announced its deal with the RDIF to make more than 100 million doses of the vaccine in November, earlier this year. Dmitriev did not disclose who the three new vendors are.

It’s possible that Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories may be roped in since it is already conducting the clinical trials of Sputnik V in India and will also distribute doses, once approval comes in from the DCGA.

So far, only three COVID-19 vaccines from Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and homegrown pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech, have sought approval for emergency use in the coming weeks.

Sputnik V may not be in the running but according to the Russian Embassy, testing of the first samples of the vaccine that were produced in India is already underway. In trials done outside the country, the Russian vaccine has been found to be more than 91% effective.

Like Oxford-AstraZeneca, Stupink V can survive at refrigerated temperatures of between two to five degrees Celsius, which gives it an edge over its competitors.

SEE ALSO: FDA says it will 'rapidly work toward' authorizing Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine

Facebook and Google have been accused of striking a secret, illegal advertising deal