Dr Reddy's Gets Indian Drug Regulator's Nod For Phase-3 Trials Of Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine In India

Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd on Friday announced that it has received approval from the Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct Phase 3 clinical trial for the Sputnik V vaccine in India.

The Phase 3 study of Sputnik V will be conducted on 1500 subjects as part of the randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study in India, the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement.

The company said that the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) reviewed the safety data from the phase 2 clinical trial of the Sputnik V vaccine and recommended the phase 3 recruitment and continue the clinical trial without any modifications.

The DSMB concluded that no safety concerns were identified and the study has met the primary endpoints of safety, it said.

G V Prasad, Co-chairman and Managing Director, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories said, “The Indian clinical trial being conducted by Dr. Reddy’s and RDIF is an adaptive design phase 2/3 trial. It is a bridging study to the larger global phase 3 study on 31,000 subjects. The phase 2 study in India showed a very good safety profile. This further reinforces our confidence in the safety of Sputnik V, which has now been administered to more than 1 million people in Russia and more than 300,000 people in Argentina. We are working closely towards fast-tracking the launch of the Sputnik V vaccine in India.”

In September 2020, Dr. Reddy’s and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) entered into a partnership to conduct the clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine and the rights for distribution in India.

Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world’s first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the established human adenoviral vector platform.

The vaccine’s efficacy is confirmed at 91.4 per cent based on data analysis of the final control point of clinical trials in Russia. Currently, the vaccine’s clinical trials are underway in the UAE, Egypt, Venezuela and Belarus while it has been registered in Algeria, Argentina, Belarus, Bolivia and Serbia for inoculation, the company said.