Malaysia will be securing Covid-19 vaccine not only from UK, US and China but also Russia with Duopharma confirming that it will procure and supply 6.4 million doses of “Sputnik V” for Malaysia.
Duopharma Biotech said its subsidiary DMSB signed a Term Sheet Agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to secure the dosages developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
“RDIF is the appointed marketing agent for Gamaleya for all international markets, and supplies of Sputnik V could be from any of RDIF’s partners, subject to approval by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA),” it said.
It said DMSB has also entered into a Term Sheet Agreement with the Ministry of Health Malaysia to supply all 6.4 million doses to vaccinate 3.2 million Malaysians in phases over a period within 2021.
“The supply is also subject to the Sputnik V vaccine being approved by Drug Control Authority of Malaysia through technical evaluation by NPRA,” it added.
Duopharma Biotech group managing director, Leonard Ariff Abdul Shatar will be looking upgrade facilities to ensure the equipment’s accommodates localisation of vaccine manufacturing in Malaysia, in order to increase vaccine accessibility and reduce dependency on importation for long-term self-sufficiency.
Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector-based platform that enables boosting of immune response and provide long lasting immunity with 92 per cent effectiveness.
