The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) and Mexican pharmaceutical company Laboratorios de Biológicos y Reactivos de México (BIRMEX) announce the production of a test batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus.

Mexico has become the first country of North America both to register Sputnik V and to launch the local production of the Russian vaccine. The vaccine produced in Mexico will be used in the national vaccination program. The production of the Sputnik V vaccine in Mexico was organized by RDIF and BIRMEX.

To date, Sputnik V has been registered in 67 countries globally with a total population of over 3.5 billion people. The data obtained by regulators of a number of countries during the vaccination of the population, including Mexico, Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, UAE and others, demonstrates that Sputnik V is one of the safest and most effective vaccines against coronavirus.

Sputnik V is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors and uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, commented:

Production of the test batch is an important step in technology transfer process and we expect the batch to comply with strictest requirements. Sputnik V has been successfully used in Mexico for months demonstrating excellent safety and efficacy profile. As RDIF and partners launch the local production of the vaccine we strive to provide easier access to Sputnik V for population of Mexico and help speed up the vaccination program.