Staff of Reuters Read for 2 minutes (Reuters) – BENGALURU (Reuters) – Panacea Biotec Ltd’s stock rose as much as 9% in early trading on Monday, a day after the biotech company announced it had secured a manufacturing license for the Sputnik V vaccine. As the country progressively reopens and a new variation, locally known as the Delta Plus, arises, India has changed its focus to mass immunisations as specialists warn of a possible third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. According to data from the government’s Co-Win platform, 6 percent of all eligible individuals in India have received the two necessary doses by July 2. Last Monday, the official coronavirus death toll surpassed 400,000, however scientists believe the true figure is closer to one million or perhaps more. After the United States, India is the world’s second-worst coronavirus-affected country. Following Panacea Biotec’s collaboration with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund that advertises the shot globally, the Indian medicines authority issued the license on Sunday. The license covers batches of Sputnik V made at the company’s Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, facilities, according to a release. These batches had previously been sent to the Gamaleya Center in Russia for quality assurance. In April of this year, India granted Sputnik V emergency usage authorization. Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine that has been shown to be 91.6 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infection. India has so far licensed four vaccines: Covishield by AstraZeneca and partner Serum Institute of India, Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, Moderna’s shot, and the Sputnik V by Moderna. Panacea Biotec started producing the vaccine at the end of May, and the business expects to produce 100 million doses per year, according to RDIF. Vishwadha Chander contributed reporting from Bengaluru, and Subhranshu Sahu edited the piece./n
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