Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), spoke about cooperation with the Swiss company Adienne Pharma & Biotech for the production of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Italy. He spoke on this topic in an interview with the Italian TV channel Rai 3.
“We are negotiating with the Italian government. There are many regions that are enthusiastic about Sputnik V that would like to produce it locally. And today, for the first time, we are collaborating with the Swiss company Adienne Pharma & Biotech in the production of Sputnik V in Italy, ”Dmitriev said.
According to him, thanks to the production mechanism, new jobs will appear, and Italy will have the opportunity to control the drug.
It is expected that the production of the Russian vaccine in Italy could begin in the summer, and by the end of this year the number of produced vaccines could reach 700 million doses.
On the air of the TV channel, the Italian Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, for his part, noted that he was “open to the Russian vaccine.”
He clarified that if it is approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa), he is ready to discuss with the Russian authorities the issue of using Sputnik V, as well as its production.
Earlier on the same day, it became known that the First Deputy Mayor of Paris, Emmanuelle Gregoire, indicated to the EMA that it was necessary to accelerate the work on the assessment of Sputnik V.
Now the drug has already been registered in more than 40 countries, including it is allowed to be used in the EU countries – in Hungary and Slovakia. The drug is one of the three world vaccines against coronavirus in terms of the number of approvals received by government regulators.
According to information published in February by the medical journal The Lancet, according to the results of the third phase of clinical trials of this drug, its effectiveness was 91.6% after analyzing data from more than 19 thousand volunteers, for severe cases of COVID-19 – 100%.