The first agreement in Europe has been signed between the Russian government fund and ADIENNE Pharma & Biotech for the production of the Sputnik V vaccine in Italy.
This was announced by the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce in a note published on its website: "In the past few hours, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, confirmed that he has reached an agreement with the company ADIENNE Pharma & Biotech for the production of Sputnik V in Italy, signing the first European contract for local production of the vaccine".
The vaccine will be produced starting from July at the Adienne headquarters in Caponago near Monza. The Lombardy Region makes it known that it has learned "from press reports of an agreement between Adienne Pharma Biotech and the Russian government fund Russian Direct Investment Fund for the production of the Sputnik vaccine in Italy". Lombardy Region underlines its extraneousness with respect to the aforementioned agreement, of which it became aware only indirectly through the media.
From the European Commission the comment on the affair: "No talks are currently underway to integrate Sputnik V into the EU vaccine strategy". However, the EU Commission underlines, through its spokesperson, Member States can "grant approval of the Sputnik vaccine"Under the authorization for emergency use. Our Constitution also provides for this possibility in cases of public health emergency.
The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce makes it known that "the innovative production process" of Sputnik "will help to create new jobs and will allow Italy to control the entire production process of the preparation. This will allow the production of 10 million doses before the end of the year".
In the meantime, the EMA, the European regulatory body for medicines, in recent weeks has started the authorization process for the administration of the Russian vaccine in Europe: it is still awaiting scientific data from Russia.
The reaction of the Italian institutions. The Italian government after learning the news ran for cover saying that there is no prejudice towards Sputnik V, even if Italy on vaccines will move within the European framework. The Lombardy Region, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Foreign Ministry say they were not aware of the agreement between Adienne Pharma Biotech and the Russian government fund Russian Direct Investment Fund. This is a private agreement, says the government. From the government they let it be known that the acceleration of the vaccination plan will be guaranteed by the doses arriving from Pfizer, AstraZeneca e Modern. Always in the evening a cold shower when rumors circulate about insufficient supplies of Johnson & Johnson's American single-dose vaccine in the second quarter.
The reassurances arrive from Palazzo Chigi: not only Johnson & Johnson guarantees its commitment to supply 200 million doses to the EU in 2021, starting from the second quarter. But for regarding Italy, in the period from 8 March to 3 April a total of approximately 6,5 million will be provided of doses. In the second quarter, on the other hand, in Italy the increase will be sharp, even if Johnson & Johnson is not considered: in all, over 36,8 million doses are planned for Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Production in Italy. The vaccines already approved by Ema and to be produced in Italy are working in a joint table between Mise, Aifa and Farmindustria. Not surprisingly, the minister Giancarlo Giorgetti confirmed to the European Commissioner Thierry breton the willingness of Italian companies to be actively included in the production cycle.
In the whole affair, the important news is that this time perhaps we are anticipating the other countries by doing something sensible in view of the forthcoming approval of Sputnik V by the EMA. Being able to produce the Russian-licensed vaccine in Italy can be a strategic advantage in the fight against the pandemic, as long as for ideological reasons, the EMA will not approve the marketing and distribution of the Russian vaccine in EU countries.