BERLIN, March 24. /TASS/. Russia’s R-Pharm, the company which produces the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, intends to launch jab production in Germany in summer 2021, the DPA agency reports, citing Alexander Bykov, the company’s health economics director.

According to DPA, the production can be set up in June or July in Bavaria’s Illertissen. "We are making every effort to start the production in summer. We already have equipment and staff there," Bykov noted.

On March 4, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) reported that the rolling review of the Russian jab had begun. The process is expected to be completed by mid-May, clearing the path for the shot developers to apply for a registration certificate. "We are expecting a decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) because it will be a legal basis for us to start the production," the R-Pharm top manager underlined. Vaccine doses produced in Illertissen can be shipped to EU countries.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) hopes that the EU will consider the application exclusively through the scientific prism rather than a political agenda. According to RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian side expected other EU members to follow Hungary’s suit and authorize the use of Sputnik V irrespective of the EMA conclusion.

Earlier, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko announced that an EMA expert group would arrive in Russia on April 10 to supervise the Sputnik V trials.

On August 11, 2020, Russia became the first country in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine, the jab was named Sputnik V and was developed by the Gamaleya Center. Sputnik V is based on a human adenoviral vector-based platform. The jab has now been authorized in more than 50 countries around the world with a total population of over 1.3 billion people. The jab’s efficacy stands at 91.6%, which was confirmed in a review published in The Lancet, a respected medical journal. Sputnik V is ranked in the top three vaccines in the number of state authorizations obtained around the world.