Shares of Wockhardt Ltd. gained the most in more than two months on an agreement to produce Russia's Sputnik vaccines for Covid-19.
The Indian drugmaker has partnered Russian Direct Investment Fund, which has backed the vaccine's development and is in charge of its foreign rollout, to produce and supply Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines, according to an exchange filing.
The agreement was reached under the aegis of Enso Healthcare, RDIF's coordination partner for sourcing Sputnik V vaccines in India, the filing said.
As part of the deal, Wockhardt will manufacture and supply up to 620 million (62 crore) doses of the two Sputnik vaccines to Enso.
The first batch would include 70-120 million (7-12 crore) doses to be delivered by June 2022 and subject to certain conditions.
The second batch would be of a further 500 million (50 crore) doses to be delivered between July 2022 and June 2023.
In September 2020, RDIF had partnered Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, and distribute it in India. Then in November, RDIF and pharma firm Hetero agreed to produce more than 10 crore doses per year of the vaccine in the country. In March 2021, Gland Pharma entered into a pact to supply up to 25.2 crore doses of the vaccine.
The vaccine received an emergency use approval in India in April this year.
Shares of Wockhardt gained as much as 8.1%, the biggest single-day gain since May 26, to Rs 528.7 apiece. That's the highest level since Aug. 4.
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