Dr Reddy's on May 17 said 8-9 states have approached the company for procurement of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. The company named Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, among the states that have reached out to them.

Dr Reddy's had announced that the imported doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine have been priced at Rs 948 plus 5 percent GST or Rs 995.40 per dose. It said the price of the imported Sputnik V vaccine would remain the same for the government and private channels.

The company would be working with hospitals in metros that can handle -18 degrees Centigrade storage for the vaccines.

Dr Reddy's has received 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik first dose last week, the company said it has received the second consignment of 60,000 doses second dose during the weekend.

"We have a supply commitment of 36 million doses from RDIF in the next two months," said M V Ramana, CEO of Branded Formulations at Dr Reddy's.

Ramana said Dr Reddy's is trying to secure more doses from RDIF. The company has a commitment from RDIF to get 250 million doses of Sputnik V first and second dose. About 15-20 percent of the initial supplies will be imported from Russia.

Dr Reddy's said once the local manufactures begin supplying, which is expected in the next two to three months, the vaccine prices will come down.

"They have to absorb the technology from RDIF, have to get approvals from the regulators and then scale up manufacturing,"  said Sauri Gudlavalleti – Head Of Research And Development.

"We are working with the regulator to bring appropriate guidance, on whether the other Indian suppliers with whom RDIF signed supply agreement will have to do clinical trials or not," Gudlavalleti added.

Hetero that has a tie-up with RDIF has got permission from DCGI to conduct Phase-3 trials of Sputnik V vaccine.

Gudlavalleti said the company intends to reach out to the Indian drug regulator in the next few weeks seeking emergency use authorisation of Sputnik Light single-dose vaccine.

Apollo Hospitals tie-up

Dr Reddy's on Monday announced a partnership with Apollo Hospitals to do the trial rollout of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in India.

Dr Reddy's will use the services of the Apollo Hospitals network nationally in storage, transportation, administering and monitoring of people who get vaccinated.

Apollo Hospitals will be pricing the Sputnik V vaccine at Rs 1,200- Rs 1,250 per dose.

Dr Reddy's said the initial rollout will begin in Hyderabad on May 17 and will be extended to Visakhapatnam and other metro cities starting May 18.

In addition to Apollo, Dr Reddy's also tied up with Continental Hospitals owned by IHH Healthcare.