RDIF and União Química to supply 10 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine to Brazil

RDIF and União Química to supply 10 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine
to Brazil

Moscow, January 13, 2021 – The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) and one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of Brazil União Química have agreed to supply to the country 10 million doses of the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus Sputnik V in the first quarter of 2021 with deliveries beginning in January.

The agreement was reached at the meeting between the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev and the President of União Química Fernando De Castro Marques today. The parties discussed the key points of cooperation on Sputnik V vaccine and further joint steps to fight the pandemic.

As part of the partnership with União Química RDIF actively facilitated the transfer of technology to launch the production of Sputnik V in Brazil, including provision of documents and biomaterials. Local production of Sputnik V in Brazil has been launched in January.

RDIF and União Química will apply for emergency use authorization of Sputnik V in Brazil this week. Sputnik V has been approved under emergency use authorization procedure in a number of countries now including Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, Serbia and Palestine. Brazilians working at the Embassy in Russia are already being vaccinated.

Kirill Dmitriev and Fernando De Castro Marques also discussed the Russia-Brazil cooperation as part of BRICS group of states. Partners will propose to all BRICS nations to create a task force to fight COVID-19 and to cooperate on vaccines.

The delegation of União Química will also visit Sputnik V production sites in Russia.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:

“Our partners from União Química were among the first in the world to show interest in the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. On our end, we are ready for a full-scale cooperation on supplies and production to begin the vaccination of the population in Brazil as soon as possible. Sputnik V is a safe and effective vaccine created on a proven and well-researched platform of human adenoviral vectors. A number of countries in Latin America are already vaccinating people with Sputnik V and we hope that Brazil will join them in coming weeks.”

Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:

·        Efficacy of Sputnik V is over 90%, with 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.

·        Over 1.5mn people have already been vaccinated with Sputnik V.

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

·        The Sputnik V vaccine has been approved in Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria and Palestine; the process to approve the vaccine in the EU has been initiated.

·        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.