BIRAC to support Dr. Reddy for clinical trials of Sputnik V vaccine

Photo Credits: AP

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is collaborating with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, and will provide all the required advisory assistance for the clinical trials of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Sputnik V. Dr. Reddy’s is planning to initiate the clinical trials soon.

The collaboration will facilitate Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to identify and utilize the clinical trial centres of BIRAC, for which funding comes under the

National Biopharma Mission, enforced by the Project Management Unit-NBM at BIRAC. Moreover, there will also be access to Good Clinical Laboratory Practice Labs (GCLP), which will aid in conducting immunogenicity assay testing of the vaccine, said Dr. Reddys Laboratories on Thursday.

BIRAC is a part of the Central Government’s Department of Biotechnology.

DBT Secretary and BIRAC chairperson, Renu Swarup said, “We at DBT look forward to this partnership with Dr. Reddy’s for this Indo-Russian collaboration for vaccine development.”

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ Chairman, Satish Reddy stated the company is looking forward to working together with BIRAC which will “accelerate our efforts in bringing the vaccine to India.”

The pharma giant had announced collaboration with Moscow-based Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in September also supported by Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF in month of September for launching the vaccine in India.

Sputnik V, the potential vaccine candidate of Russia, registered in August by the Ministry of Health in Russia, is the first registered vaccine in the world against Covid-19. It was earlier this month, the DGCI approved the proposal presented by Dr. Reddy’s and RDIF for conducting phase 2/phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine.