Brazilian firm plans to export Russian COVID vaccine to South America - (National Post via NewsPoints Desk)

• União Quimica plans to mpve ahead with production of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine with a view to exporting it to other parts of South America, as reported in the National Post.

• The Brazilian pharmaceutical firm and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is marketing Sputnik V for Russia's Gamaleya Institute, last week filed for emergency use approval from Brazilian health regulator Anvisa, but were told more documentation was needed.

• Rogerio Rosso, international business director for União Quimica, said a new meeting is scheduled with Anvisa on January 21, but "we do not need to have the vaccine registered in Brazil to export it to other countries that have approved it."

• According to the news source, Argentina has begun using the Russian vaccine, which has also been registered for use in Bolivia, Venezuela and Paraguay.

• Meanwhile, an RDIF spokesman indicated that 10 more countries would register it by next week, under emergency use procedures not requiring local clinical trials.

• Rosso estimated that the potential market for Sputnik V in Latin America, including Brazil, was 300 million doses in 2021.

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