MOSCOW (Reuters) – Doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 manufactured by Swiss pharmaceutical company Adienne Pharma & Biotech in Italy will only be available in late 2021, the TASS news agency reported on Friday.
The RDIF Sovereign Wealth Fund in Moscow earlier this week signed an agreement with Adienne that requires approval from Italian regulators before production can be launched. It said it had also agreed with production facilities in Spain, France and Germany.
The production agreements are the latest indication that some companies can proceed with plans without waiting for the European Regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), to approve Sputnik V.
“The company will only deliver lots for sale in late 2021,” said TASS Antonio Francesco Di Naro, president of Adienne, based in Lugano.
Di Naro said the company still needs to complete the process of exchanging technology for the production of Sputnik V, testing its production and transmitting data to national regulators before the shot can be sold.
(This story amends paragraph 2 so that the date of signing is not known)
(Written by Alexander Marrow; edited by Catherine Evans)