KUALA LUMPUR: UCrest Bhd signed a strategic deal with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to manage and produce 200 million doses and up to 2 billion doses of Sputnik V, the Covid-19 vaccines in the first two years with the offtake commitment of take or pay basis.
UCrest is partnering, arranging and managing the contract manufacturers in Asia to produce no less than 100 million doses and up to one billion doses in the first year and similarly in the second year.
The production plan of the third year will be adjusted according to market dynamics at that time.
The company has well-established operations in China, Taiwan and Singapore in addition to its headquarters in Malaysia.
UCrest chairman and chief executive officer Eg Kah Yee said since the outbreak, the company have been actively engaged in various healthcare projects in combating the virus.
"These include tracking of Covid-19 symptoms and intelligent assessment and management of the disease for every user of iMedic, including monitoring and management of patients with ventilators and oximeter in hospitals or at home with the digital health platform," he said in a statement today.
"We plan to make available to everyone who is going to be vaccinated with Sputnik V to have free access to the iMedic platform to track the symptoms, allergies or side effects and management of the disease for as long as needed and these data will be very useful in improving the efficacy and also treatment of Covid-19 patients in the future," he said.
Sputnik V vaccines was developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and funded by RDIF, the Russian sovereign wealth fund that is responsible for the commercialisation of the product.
UCrest has been actively involved with RDIF in identifying and qualifying contract manufacturers in Asia and will be transferring the technologies from RDIF and Gamaleya for mass production.
UCrest will be managing the contract manufacturers and get the necessary approvals to achieve the production and delivery of the doses needed.
Sputnik V is developed using proven vector technology based on human adenovirus platform that has been used for more than 17 years, with 3 approved antiviral vaccines including vaccine for Ebola and 2 approved drugs for cancer treatment.
Sputnik V is reported to be one of the safest and most effective vaccines to date.
According to data published in February 2021, the interim results of the interim phase III randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial included about 22 000 adults indicate that the vaccine is 91.6 per cent effective based on its ability to prevent symptomatic infection.
According to the open, non-randomised trial published on the Lancet in September 2020, all 76 participants developed antibodies and no serious adverse events were detected.