Dr Reddy’s gets DCGI nod for single-shot Sputnik Light vaccine

Hyderabad: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. on Monday announced that the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted approval to the single-shot Sputnik Light vaccine for restricted use in emergency situation for COVID-19 in India.

A press release from the drug maker said Dr. Reddy’s had submitted its application for approval to the DCGI in December 2021, in addition to data from clinical trial in Russia, following its Phase-III clinical trial of the single-shot Sputnik Light vaccine in India.

Sputnik Light is a single-dose vaccine and the same as the first component — recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26) — of the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine.

The standalone Sputnik Light vaccine is the latest jab to be approved by the DCGI as part of India’s national inoculation effort against COVID-19. Sputnik Light is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be made available in India by Dr. Reddy’s, reaffirming the company’s commitment to explore every avenue in the fight against the pandemic, it said.

Sputnik Light has been approved in over 30 countries around the world including Argentina, UAE, Philippines and Russia. In September 2020, Dr. Reddy’s partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V and distribute the vaccine in India.

In April 2021, the DCGI granted approval to the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine for restricted use in emergency situation in India.