Dr. Reddy's bringing coronavirus vaccine to India by 2020-end

As part of the deal, announced a few hours ago, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories will be conducting a Phase-3 human trial of Sputnik V in India.

Along with the study, the organization will also be buying 100 million doses of the shot, which has been billed as the world's officially approved COVID-19 vaccine, for people in the country.

Both trial and supply aspects of the deal remain subject to approvals from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization - which will be looking at the data of the vaccine pre and post India trial.

To note, just last week, NITI Aayog member VK Paul had said that the Indian government is willing to facilitate a late-stage trial for Sputnik V.

Meanwhile, speaking on the deal, GV Prasad, co-chairman & MD of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, said, "We will be conducting Phase-3 trials in India to ensure safety and efficacy for the Indian population and to meet the requirements of the Indian regulators."

"Sputnik V vaccine could provide a credible option in our fight against COVID-19 in India," he added.

Developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and backed by RDIF, Sputnik V was registered on August 11, with President Putin claiming that the shot forms a stable immunity and one of his daughters had already been inoculated.

However, as the approval was given after just two-month-long trials and no public data, many raised alarms over the safety standards.

Despite the questions, Russia has been moving ahead with the internal production and distribution of Sputnik V.

The company started production last month and has already released the first batch of the shot in civil circulation, following necessary quality tests in the laboratories of Roszdravnadzor [Russia's medical device regulator].

The country had also expressed willingness to partner with India for scaling up the production.