S. Korean firm, Russia's RDIF agree on Sputnik V vaccine tech tranfer

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, April 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean bio-tech company Isu Abxis said Thursday that a technology transfer deal with Russia's sovereign wealth fund will pave the way for it to produce Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine soon.

Under the agreement with Russia's sovereign wealth fund, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), and local bio firm GL Rapha, Isu Abxis will manufacture Sputnik V in the country.

The company said the pilot production of the vaccine at the facility in Yongin, just south of Seoul, is expected to begin soon.

In February, GL Rapha completed organizing the consortium for the production of Sputnik V in the country, including eight leading pharmaceutical companies.

The RDIF described Sputnik V as "the world's first registered vaccine" based on "human adenoviral vector-based platform."

The first interim analysis of the Sputnik V vaccine of phase three clinical trials in Russia has demonstrated 92 percent efficacy against the new coronavirus based on 20 confirmed cases, the Moscow-based fund earlier said.

The Sputnik V vaccine was developed at the National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, and its clinical trials have been announced in the United Arab Emirates, India, Venezuela and Belarus, the fund said.

khj@yna.co.kr
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