RIO DE JANEIRO, January 26. /TASS/. The production of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by Brazil’s pharmaceutical company Uniao Quimica serves as an example of a technological alliance between Russia and Brazil, Russia’s Ambassador to the largest South American country Sergey Akopov told TASS.
"The Russian vaccine’s production in Brazil in partnership with a large Brazilian national company is of crucial importance because it fits the concept, which we have been discussing for many years - creating a technological alliance between Brazil and Russia," the diplomat said.
"This project gives rise to this high-tech cooperation and no doubt, in the future it should become a driving force for other such projects," Akopov said. According to the diplomat, this cooperation between Brasilia and Moscow "is possible and is in demand."
On Monday, the ambassador once again visited Uniao Quimica’s plant, which had launched production of an active component of the Russian vaccine. He noted that the enterprise was "high-tech and modern." "Everything is fine and technological processes are being fine-tuned," he stressed.
According to the ambassador, the vaccine’s active component will be airlifted from the capital’s federal district, where the enterprise is located, to Guarulhos (the state of Sao Paulo), where Uniao Quimica has two more factories, and Sputnik V will be packed there. "All this effort is in close contact with the Gamaleya [Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology], RDIF [the Russian Direct Investment Fund] and factories manufacturing the vaccine in Russia. Specialists are in contact almost every day," the diplomat said.
On August 11, 2020 Russia was the first in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry. Sputnik V is a vector vaccine based on human adenovirus.