Dr Reddy’s lab said on May 19 that it would reduce the price of the Sputnik Light vaccine, which will be used as a booster for the more than 1.2 million beneficiaries who receive the Sputnik vaccine.

“The pricing of Sputnik V booster doses will be competitive and will be in line with the current market. Initially, Sputnik V was manufactured outside India and now it is produced in India,” said API and Services CEO Dr Deepak Sapra.

Dr Reddy has the right to market and distributes the Russian COVID-19 vaccine in India. Sapra said the company is also conducting a clinical trial to study the effects of Sputnik Light as a generic booster dose.

“We use Sputnik Light as a generic booster in clinical trials, which means anyone who has received any vaccine; if we get favourable results from clinical trials, whether it’s Covaxin or Covishield, Sputnik can be used as a generic booster pusher. To that end, we expect to submit it to regulators in June and early July,” he added.

Commenting on the company’s COVID inventory, Sapra said that some COVID products changed in the last quarter. Still, the figure is well below past quarters as the country’s coronavirus situation eases.

“The future of the COVID portfolio will depend on the COVID wave and the severity of the wave. We aim to continue to look for opportunities to capitalize on these stocks in India and overseas,” he added. Asked if Dr Reddy was realigning its alliance with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Sapra said the company was aligned with the latter.

“We have an alliance with RDIF. What we have done is, Sputnik’s supply chain is configured entirely in India, it is a vaccine made in India, so the alliance continues and we will manufacture and supply in India,” he added.

Commenting on the progress of the Sputnik M COVID-19 vaccine for children, Sapra said the company is not prioritizing this. “We are not developing the Sputnik M for children, but prioritizing and trialling the Sputnik lamp as a universal booster is a core priority,” Sapra added.