Russia: Sputnik V vaccine creates stepping stone for export development — RDIF

Sputnik V

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/: Appearance of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and its distribution worldwide has become a stepping stone to promote export of other new Russian drugs, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in a documentary showed on the Rossiya-24 TV Channel.

"Russia has a very good school of thought. Many very good pharmaceuticals are being manufactured here but a few of such drugs was exported to different countries before the ‘Sputnik moment’ and Sputnik has largely created a base for our pharmaceuticals, because many countries saw it has higher quality than many other vaccines, and this was acknowledged at the same time, for example, in the Italy’s Spallanzani Institute," Dmitriev said.

This is important not merely for the country’s export potential but also for Russians to understand that the domestic pharmaceutical industry is making products of the highest class, enjoying global demand," he noted.

"Russia sometimes has a certain gap between development and commercial application. The Sputnik [vaccine] showed this gap can be closed and we see many new pharmaceuticals under development at present, including allergy vaccines, other important vaccine and non-vaccine drugs that can become much-in-demand globally," chief executive of RDIF added.