Moscow: Panacea Biotec and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) have recently announced their cooperation to produce 100 million doses per year of Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus.

Production of Sputnik V at Panacea Biotec sites will help facilitate global supply of Sputnik V to international partners of RDIF. To date Sputnik V has been registered in 59 countries globally with total population of over 1.5 billion people. Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals. The vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented: "Vaccine partnerships are the only way to overcome the pandemic. The world continues its tight against coronavirus and we see a growing interest in Sputnik V vaccine as it is one of the best vaccines available. Cooperation with Panacea Biotec is an important step to produce the vaccine in India and to supply our international partners around the world."

Dr. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director of Panacea Biotec, said: "We are pleased to collaborate with RDIF to produce Sputnik V for global markets. Panacea Biotec brings decades of vaccine manufacturing and distribution know-how to scale-up Sputnik V supplies. Panacea Biotec will produce Sputnik V in its internationally accredited facilities·complying to strict GMP standards and prequalified by WHO."

Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:

• Efficacy of Sputnik V is 91.6% as confirmed by the data published in the Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals; it is one of only three vaccines in the world with efficacy of over 90%; Sputnik V provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19.

• The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.

• Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

• The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.

• The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are working collaboratively with AstraZeneca on a joint clinical trial to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine.

• There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.

• The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.

• The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDlF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF's management company is based in Moscow.