Russia signs deal with South Korean pharmaceutical GL Rapha to manufacture Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Seoul-based pharmaceutical company GL Rapha have signed a deal to produce more than 150 million doses of Russia’s pioneering Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in South Korea annually.

Production will begin in December and the vaccine will be exported to countries around the world starting in January 2021.

The first interim results of a large-scale Phase III clinical trial for the jab were released earlier this week and showed 92-percent efficacy. Researchers said they would publish their preliminary findings in a top medical journal and promised to make available a full clinical trial report once the testing phase is complete. They said it would take up to six months to ensure that participants in the trials do not suffer any side effects. 

Developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Sputnik V is the world’s first registered Covid-19 vaccine. It is now undergoing the Phase III clinical trial involving 40,000 volunteers.

Other countries are also taking part in testing the vaccine. Belarus, the UAE, Venezuela, and India are conducting their own clinical trials of Sputnik V, and could potentially purchase doses, or licensing rights to produce the vaccine, for domestic distribution.

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