Isu Abxis, RDIF agree on Sputnik V vaccine tech transfer

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, Gyeonggi, is expected to begin later this month.

"It is the first case of the consortium officially signing a contract with RDIF along with the actual technology transfer and with continuous communication," said Jeong Soo-hyun, an Isu Abxis official, in a press release.

The RDIF also announced that the agreement is the first trilateral contract for technology transfer with a company belonging to the Korean consortium.

The fund expected the agreement will ramp up the production to meet the rising demand for Sputnik V that is approved for use in 60 countries with a total population of 3 billion people.

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

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.

Yonhap