Belarus Launches Sputnik V Vaccine Production

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), JSC Generium, and RUE Belmedpreparaty, the largest pharmaceutical company in the Republic of Belarus, announced on February 26, 2021, the production launch of the Sputnik V vaccine.

The Sputnik V vaccine's release at the sites of the Belmedpreparaty enterprise will fully meet the need of Belarus for a vaccine against coronavirus.

Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, commented in a press statement, “The joint production of the Sputnik V vaccine is an important stage in cooperation between our countries. Industrial cooperation and the development of cooperation make it possible to implement such significant joint projects for the effective protection of the population of the Republic of Belarus."

"Assistance in technology transfer is provided by the Gamaleya Institute, Generium, and RDIF."

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF, added, “The Republic of Belarus became the first foreign country to start clinical trials of Sputnik V, register the drug and start vaccination. Establishing their own production will significantly increase the scale of vaccination in the absence of logistics costs."

The Sputnik V vaccine is based on the well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold. It uses two different vectors for two shots during the vaccination process, which creates more robust immunity compared to vaccines that use the same delivery mechanism for both shots.