With the DCGI authorisation, Sputnik Light will be included in India's national vaccine portfolio, joining Sputnik V, which was approved in April last year
Medical worker in Moscow with the vaccine. (Credit: mos.ru/Wikipedia.)
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced that its single-shot Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine has been authorised by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
With emergency permission in India, Sputnik Light has been registered in more than 30 countries with a total population of over 2.5 billion people.
Various countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, UAE, San Marino and the Philippines, have already authorized Sputnik Light as a universal booster, said RDIF.
In a preliminary study conducted at the Gamaleya Centre, Sputnik Light has significantly increased the virus-neutralising activity against Omicron, when used as a booster dose.
The virus-neutralising activity is comparable to titers observed after Sputnik V against wild-type virus, associated with high levels of protection.
Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev said: “Authorisation of Sputnik Light in India is another major step in successful cooperation between Russia and India in the fight against Covid.
“Sputnik Light has proven to be safe and effective both as a standalone vaccine and a universal booster shot to vaccines of other producers, helping to induce stronger immune response as compared to two shots of the same vaccine.
“The heterologous boosting approach using Sputnik Light is the solution to increase efficacy and duration of other vaccines, including against Omicron variant.”
In a comparative study at Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Italy, Sputnik V showed a superior immune response to Omicron, compared to the Pfizer vaccine.
Including a team of 12 Italian and nine Russian scientists, the study was led by Spallanzani Institute director Francesco Vaia and Gamaleya Centre director Alexander Gintsburg.
Sputnik Light, when used as a heterologous booster, is said to be the best solution to increase the vaccine efficacy and extend the booster protection period, based on the study data.
RDIF’s major partner in India, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has also conducted local clinical trials of Sputnik Light in India, whose positive results supported the DCGI’s decision.
With the DCGI authorisation, Sputnik Light will be included in India’s national vaccine portfolio, joining Sputnik V, which was approved in April last year.
Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, both produced using the same human adenoviral vector platform, have not been linked to rare serious adverse events after vaccination, according to RDIF.