South Korea's GL Rapha to ship out 10 million doses of Sputnik COVID vaccine this month

Record ID: 1636723

  • Title: South Korea's GL Rapha to ship out 10 million doses of Sputnik COVID vaccine this month
  • Date: 14th September 2021
  • Summary: CHUNCHEON, SOUTH KOREA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2021) (REUTERS) STAFF WORKING AT VACCINE PRODUCTION PLANT VARIOUS OF VIALS CONTAINING SPUTNIK'S VACCINES VARIOUS OF VIALS CONTAINING SPUTNIK'S VACCINES ON ASSEMBLY LINES STAFF OBSERVING INFRARED IMAGES OF THE VACCINE TO CHECK POSSIBLE IMPURITIES IN VIALS SCREEN SHOWING INFRARED IMAGES OF VACCINES IN VIALS VARIOUS OF VIALS CONTAINING SPUTNIK'S VACCINES ON ASSEMBLY LINES GL RAPHA CHAIRMAN, WHANG JAE-GAN, SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) GL RAPHA CHAIRMAN, WHANG JAE-GAN, SAYING: "Everything is pretty much ready and we continue to produce the vaccine as we wait for Russia to validate our production process." WHANG SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) GL RAPHA CHAIRMAN, WHANG JAE-GAN, SAYING: "We had stopped everything else after the Sputnik contract. We'd stopped all our existing R&D as well as the rollout of the ongoing products and planned products at the factory in Chuncheon. We have put all our resources into Sputnik." WHANG SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) GL RAPHA CHAIRMAN, WHANG JAE-GAN, SAYING: "I'm not sure how this would be heard, but we made this big business decision as it also can be a momentum for us to make contributions for humanity, hoping to end the pandemic besides business reasons." VARIOUS OF FACILITIES AT GL RAPHA VACCINE PRODUCTION PLANT VARIOUS OF VIALS ON ASSEMBLY LINES STAFF WORKING AT VACCINE PRODUCTION PLANT VARIOUS OF BOXES CONTAINING SPUTNIK'S VACCINES ON ASSEMBLY LINES LOGO ON BOX READING (English): "SPUTNIK LIGHT"
  • Embargoed: 28th September 2021 06:01
  • Keywords: GL Rapha Russia South Korea Sputnik biotech manufacturing production vaccine
  • Location: CHUNCHEON, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: CHUNCHEON, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EUOW37R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:South Korean biotech firm GL Rapha (GL) expects to win regulatory approval from Russia to export Sputnik Light coronavirus vaccines this month, its chairman said, paving the way for the first overseas production of the shot to ease a supply shortage.
    The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which markets Sputnik V and single-dose version Sputnik Light abroad, plans to produce around 700 million doses overseas this year.
    But production got off to a slow start and growing domestic demand constrained supply from Russia, disrupting both shots' global rollout plan and allowing rival vaccine makers to fill the gap in several markets.
    "Everything is pretty much ready and we continue to produce the vaccine as we wait for Russia to validate our production process," GL chairman Whang Jae-gan said in an interview.
    He said the RDIF, the Russian sovereign wealth fund, had informed the firm that approval was expected later this month, and it is preparing a joint ceremony to mark the first overseas vaccine production and shipment.
    RDIF declined to comment.
    GL, which oversees the entire production of the vaccine from drug substance to packaging in its facility in Chuncheon, east of Seoul, has at least 10 million doses of Sputnik Light already in storage ready for shipment pending approval.
    It comes more than a year after the two sides first started cooperation talks, which accelerated following technology transfer by its Russian developer Gamaleya Research Institute in October, underscoring the complicated process facing global efforts to rapidly boost vaccine supply.
    He said the company suspended all other drug production and boosted efforts to scale up and generate synergies.
    In April, just six months after the technology transfer, GL sent out a validation batch for Sputnik V, and around the same time, the RDIF also asked the company to produce Sputnik Light concurrently. GL is now awaiting a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) nod from Russia for its production facility.
    The company has scaled up production far exceeding its initial target of 650 million doses per year through its consortia that include botox-maker Jetema Corp, CKD Bio Corp, Hankook Korus Pharm, and Boryung Biopharma, a vaccine manufacturing arm of Boryung Pharm, Whang said.
    He declined to elaborate on exact capacity.
    While the RDIF will decide which countries get the vaccine first, it's likely to be sent to various countries that have reported delays, Whang said.
    Production is also set to accelerate elsewhere, with Serum Institute of India planning to manufacture trial batches from this month. Six Indian companies have already signed deals to produce around 1 billion doses of Sputnik V annually.
    (Production: Dogyun Kim, Heejung Jung)
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