Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 13: Even as the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given conditional clearance for emergency use of the Russia-made Sputnik V and its roll-out is planned by end of the current month, the price factor remains a contentious issue before India can hope to add the third vaccine in its basket.
India currently using Serum Institute of India-made AstraZeneca’s “Covishield” and Bharat Biotech produced “Covaxin” for immunizing the country’s vulnerable sector including the frontline workers, senior citizens and the middle-aged with co-morbidities.
But sources said as of now, the manufacturer of Sputnik V would not be able to match the price at which the government was purchasing Covishield from the SII. The government currently was buying Covishield at $2 per dose and the price of Covaxin is only marginally higher. But the production cost of Sputnik V work out at around $10 per dose and even if the manufacturer agreed to provide the doses at the cost price on humanitarian grounds, the government still will have to shell out five times the cost of Covishield.
Official sources said there was no decision taken on the price at which the vaccine would be procured by the government. Price negotiations with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) are yet to be concluded.
The rollout of the new vaccine in India is contingent on the successful conclusion of these negotiations and there are clear indicators that RDIF may not be able to match the price of $2 a dose that the government is presently paying for Covishield.
”Sputnik in other markets it’s more expensive than AstraZeneca’s vaccine and I’m not sure that we can get exactly to that pricing given our production process,” Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the RDIF told the media.
Currently, the Sputnik V vaccine is being marked at approximately $10 dollars a dose in other markets. ”So far, the pricing has been exactly the same for all the countries,” Dmitriev said. Sixty countries, including India, have registered for the use of the vaccine or have already begun its roll-out.
“We understand that there are some price control elements, to what (the) Indian government has and there are some ideas of having a different price in the private market versus (a) government contract,” Dmitriev said.
At the moment the central government has firmly rejected the roll-out of any vaccine at commercial rates, repeatedly stressing the vaccines needed to be made available to priority groups identified by the Centre and at prices which it has set.
“I think the whole goal is not to really make, you know, huge returns of investments. Of course, we want to return our capital, but the whole goal is to really be a solution to the world that so much needs the vaccine,” he added.
“As you know, we also have five great manufacturers in India who will be producing doses as well. So, we see that May is the time when Sputnik will be launched in India, but of course it will take couple of months to really ramp up production capacity. So, we believe by June, we will really be at very good production capacity in India and will become a very meaningful player in vaccination program in India,” Dmitriev added.
RDIF plans to ultimately manufacture 850 million doses in India. “I think India will really become the production hub of Sputnik, serving India and other markets,” he said.
Official sources indicated that in case the price factor remained unresolved, the government may opt for keeping the Russian vaccine for consumption in the open market for richer sections who could afford it since its efficacy was pegged at 91 per cent, much higher than the two other vaccines in use in the country.