MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – A commercial deal to produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 in Italy was signed by the Moscow-based RDIF sovereign wealth fund and Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Adienne.
The agreement first of its kind, will need approval from Italian regulators before the production begins. However, both RDIF and the Italian-Russian chamber of commerce has confirmed the deal.
It is the latest evidence that some EU companies are not willing to wait for the EU’s own regulator — the European Medicines Agency (EMA) — to grant its approval to Sputnik V before pushing ahead with their own plans.
Scientists said the Russian vaccine was almost 92% effective, based on peer-reviewed late-stage trial results published in The Lancet medical journal last month.
The Italian-Russian chamber of commerce said in a statement that the move paved the way for the creation of the first Sputnik V production facility in Europe.
It said there were plans for Italian production to begin in June and that it hoped that 10 million doses of Sputnik V could be produced there by the end of the year.
Vincenzo Trani, head of the chamber, said in the statement, “This agreement is the first of its kind with a European partner,” adding, “It can be called a historic event, which is proof of the good state of relations between our countries and shows that Italian companies can see beyond political differences.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Italy-related plan could help quickly satisfy the demand for the shot abroad.