Russia has asked Germany's IDT about making Sputnik vaccine: ministry

BERLIN: Russia has reached out to German biotechnology company IDT Biologika to explore jointly producing the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the German health ministry said Wednesday.

It comes a day after The Lancet journal published trial results showing the Sputnik vaccine to be 91.6 percent effective against Covid-19, defying international scepticism about the Russian-made jab.

A German health ministry spokeswoman told AFP that Russia's state-run Gamaleya research institute, which developed Sputnik V, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the project, "are interested in a co-partner for a possible production and have as such contacted IDT Biologika".

"The contents or details of confidential discussions are not known," she added.

IDT, based in Dessau in eastern Germany, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

The positive data from the Sputnik trial come as the European Union faces growing impatience over its vaccination rollout, which has been dogged by delivery delays and supply shortages.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday said "all vaccines" are welcome in the EU so long as they have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Merkel already spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month about the Sputnik jab, offering the help of Germany's Paul Ehrlich Institute in assisting Russia with the application process for the EMA.

"And if this vaccine is approved by the EMA, then we can talk about joint production or also about usage," Merkel said at the time.

German firm IDT is itself working on a Covid-19 vaccine, but early trial results have not been encouraging.

Like fellow German vaccine makers BioNTech and CureVac, IDT has received state support to fund its coronavirus research, to the tune of 114 million euros ($140 million).