Sputnik V, the coronavirus vaccine created in Russia, will be soon produced in Italy. According to the deal it signed with Russian authorities, Adienne Srl, an Italian company part of the international group Adienne Pharma&Biotech and located in the town of Caponago, 15km north of Milan, will produce the Sputnik V vaccine starting next summer.
The agreement signed by the Italian company was promoted by the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce (CCIR). A press release published (in Italian) on the Chamber’s website states that: “with the aim of contributing to the development of economic, commercial, technical, juridical, scientific and cultural cooperation between Italy and the Russian Federation, the CCIR, with the support of the Italian Embassy in Moscow, has facilitated since October 2020 meetings among Italian and European companies and Russian institutions to verify the possibility of producing Russia’s vaccine Sputnik V in Italy.”
The result of this effort was the signing of the first contract to produce the Sputnik V vaccine on European soil. The contract provides that the production will start in July 2021, with an expected production of 10 million doses by the end of the year. This will demonstrate that “Italian companies possess unique skills and competences and the rapidity and flexibility required to face the market”.
These are the words of Vincenzo Trani, the President of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce. Trani goes on saying: “The agreement between the Russian Federation and our member is an historic agreement. It shows that bilateral relations between the two countries are healthy and that Italian entrepreneurs do not care about political skirmish. I am certain that this cooperation will pave the way for new investments in the Italian pharmaceutical sector, with positive effects in terms of jobs and for the whole sector. At the moment the production of safe and accessible vaccines is essential to allow the economies of our countries to get out of this unstable situation. What we did had no political colour.”
As stated in the press release, Russian authorities are working on more than 20 cooperation projects in Europe and the Sputnik V vaccine has already been registered in 45 countries around the world. Moreover, last week the EMA, the European agency responsible for evaluating and approving the use of vaccines in the EU, initiated a rolling review of Sputnik V, thus opening the possibility that it will soon be administered to European citizens.
The hope is that soon, obviously after the necessary assessment by the competent authority, the Russian vaccine will help us leave behind the unpleasant situation we find ourselves in, giving another example of heartwarming cooperation among countries that we have seen happening many times during the past year.
