FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE

Partnering with the Russian government for the controversial Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V could help Dr Reddy’s make further inroads in the foreign country and prove to be a game-changer for the pharma company’s India play

- Manu Balachandran

Like many others, Deepak Sapra had a rather hectic lockdown. There were days when he worked late nights or on Sundays, as homes turned into workplaces.

But he didn’t mind. After all, the former officer of the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers was given a mandate by Satish Reddy and GV Prasad, chairman and co-chairman respectively of Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, to strike a deal that will see them partner with the Russian government to sell Sputnik V, the controversial Covid-19 vaccine, in India. And that’s precisely what Sapra—CEO for the API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and pharmaceutical division at Dr Reddy’s—did in under two months.

Sapra and his team first spoke to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the sovereign wealth fund of the Russian government responsible for selling Sputnik V, in July. Sputnik V is the first Covid-19 vaccine to be registered in the world, but without completing phase III trials. It is based on the human adenovirus, a common cold virus that is fused with the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 to stimulate an immune response, and was developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, with support from RDIF.

“The subsequent meetings would go on for long and sometimes run late into midnight or on Sundays,” says Sapra. “By then, we had become used to working round the clock.” Through it all, he was impressed with the Russians’ frankness and, more importantly, a deeper understanding of the expectations between the partners. “They were able to communicate the science behind it, and were forthcoming,” he says.