Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) on Friday, 4 June, granted Serum Institute of India the permission to manufacture ‘Sputnik V’ for examination test and analysis at its licensed facility at Hadapsar, reported ANI, citing sources.
The Serum Institute of India, which makes the Covishield vaccine, had applied to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), seeking permission to manufacture Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, reports said on Thursday, citing sources.
The Adar Poonawalla-led company "put up an application to DCGI on Wednesday seeking permission to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in India," a source told news agency PTI.
The Russian vaccine had been approved for emergency use authorisation in India in April, making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the country, the other two being Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
The first consignment of the Sputnik V vaccine had arrived in Hyderabad on 1 May. It is being imported by Dr Reddy's Laboratories and will be manufactured locally by the pharmaceutical major in the coming months.
SII’s application has come amid an acute shortage of vaccine doses across the country, while India combats a deadly second wave of the pandemic.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)