Local bio company Huons Global has secured marketing rights for Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light in South Korea, the company announced Wednesday.

Huons Global will be in charge of the authorization procedure for the Russian vaccine. Huons could also apply for emergency use authorization from Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the company added.

A consortium led by Huons Global will begin producing Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, starting in the second half this year.

Sputnik V, consisting of two doses, was the first vaccine authorized for use against the COVID-19. Sputnik Light is identical to the first dose of Sputnik V.

The Korean consortium plans to produce 20 million-30 million doses of each on a monthly basis. In 2022, it will be able to produce 100 million doses a month after completing the construction of additional manufacturing facilities next year, it said.

The consortium is made up of Huons, Humedix, Prestige Biopharma and Boran Pharma.

Whether any of the doses will be used in South Korea remains uncertain as the government has not yet disclosed any plans to purchase the vaccines. South Korea has signed procurement deals for AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen and Novavax shots only.

Sputnik Light is a single-dose, adenoviral vector-type vaccine with a proven efficacy rate of 79.4 percent. It works by injecting a weakened version of a different virus modified with genetic material from the coronavirus to train the host to create antibodies, the same mechanism used in the AstraZeneca and Janssen COVID-19 vaccines. Protective immunity after the single shot of Sputnik Light is believed to last around three to four months.

Sputnik Light has been approved in several countries, including Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela and Mongolia. In February, phase 3 clinical trials for the vaccine were launched in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana, involving more than 7,000 participants.