New Delhi: The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund), and Stelis Biopharma Pvt. Ltd., the biopharmaceutical division of Strides, a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in India, have partnered to produce, and supply a minimum of 200 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus sufficient to vaccinate 100 million people.

The agreement between RDIF and Stelis Biopharma was reached under the aegis of Enso Healthcare LLP (part of Enso Group), RDIF's coordination partner for sourcing Sputnik V vaccines in India.

Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection, is now approved for use in over 50 countries.

Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine which uses two different human adenoviral vectors in the course of vaccination. The vaccine demonstrates a 91.6% efficacy rate as confirmed by a peerreviewed study published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, which found the vaccine to offer consistent and strong protective effect across all participant age groups.

The parties intend to commence supplies from the Q3 of 2021. Stelis will also continue to work with the RDIF to provide additional supply volumes beyond the initial agreement.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said: "We are delighted to announce our agreement with Stelis Biopharma for a significant capacity of Sputnik V. The Russian vaccine with efficacy of 91.6% is one of the best vaccines against coronavirus in the world. The significant vaccine volumes which will be produced jointly with Stelis will help to widen access to the vaccine on a global scale."

Arun Kumar, Founder of Strides Group, said: "We are delighted to partner with RDIF to make a substantial contribution towards providing global supply of the Sputnik V vaccine which is one of the most efficacious approved vaccines commercially available. We will also work with RDIF to increase the availability of the vaccine beyond our initial commitments."

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