Dr Hemanth Nandigala: ‘You cannot quicken the process of manufacturing vaccines too much’
The Hindutechnology is owned by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, is the only COVID-19 vaccine approved in India that is being manufactured locally from a diversified manufacturing base. Speaking to Frontline, Dr Hemanth Nandigala, managing director of the Hyderabad-based Virchow Biotech Private Limited, one of the Indian Sputnik V contractors, explains the constraints in scaling up capacity quickly. Excerpts from the interview: Virchow is one of the companies manufacturing the Sputnik V vaccine in India. The second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine is supposed to generate a higher level of efficacy than other similar two-dose vaccines because the antibody response is greater. Of course, producing two different doses of the vaccine is a logistical nightmare because it is almost like producing in two different locations because you don’t want cross-contamination.