New Delhi, April 7: Drug firm Panacea Biotec on Wednesday announced that it would produce 100 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine in India per year. The firm made the announcement with an official statement. On Tuesday, Rajesh Jain, MD of the company was quoted in media reports saying that the drug firm will start delivering Sputnik V vaccine this year. Soon after the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the drug firm agreed to produce 100 million doses per year of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in India, shares of Panacea Biotec on Tuesday zoomed 20 percent.

According to reports, the Panacea Biotec stock jumped 19.99 percent to Rs 220.85, its highest trading permissible limit on the BSE while on NSE, it zoomed 19.98 percent to Rs 221.25, its upper circuit. A joint statement by the RDIF and Panacea Biotec stated that the production of Sputnik V at Panacea Biotec sites will help facilitate the global supply of Sputnik V to international partners of RDIF. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Efficacy of AstraZeneca's Covishield Rises to 90% if Doses Given 2–3 Months Apart, Says Adar Poonawalla.

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As per data published in the leading medical journal, Lancet, the efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6 percent and the vaccine has been registered in 59 countries globally. The price of Sputnik V is less than USD 10 per shot, it added. Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev said that cooperation with Panacea Biotec is an important step to produce the vaccine in India and to supply the vaccines to international partners around the world. He added saying that vaccine partnerships are the only way to overcome the pandemic.

According to reports, RDIF has already partnered with other Indian pharma firms such as Hetero, Gland Pharma and Stelis Biopharma to produce millions of Sputnik V Vaccine in India. On Tuesday, the nationwide COVID-19 tally of cases in India rose to 1,26,86,049 with 96,982 fresh cases reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll increased to 1,65,547 with 446 daily new fatalities.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 07, 2021 08:23 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).