Bharat Biotech’s nasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC launched
1 min read . Updated: 26 Jan 2023, 04:47 PM IST
PremiumiNCOVACC is a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilized spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phase I, II and III clinical trials with successful results.
New Delhi: Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday launched the world’s first COVID-19 intranasal vaccine, iNCOVACC.
Developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, the vaccine will be available at government hospitals for ₹ 325 a dose, and for ₹ 800 in private settings. It is country’s first indigenously made nasal Covid-19 vaccine.
In December, iNCOVACC received approval for a primary two-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose.Clinical trials were conducted to evaluate iNCOVACC as a primary dose, and as heterologous booster dose for subjects who have previously received two doses of the two commonly administered Covid-19 vaccines in India.
The vaccine has been developed in partnership with Washington University St Louis, which designed and developed and evaluated it in preclinical studies for efficacy. Product development related to preclinical safety evaluation, large-scale manufacturing scale-up, formulation and delivery device development, including human clinical trials were conducted by Bharat Biotech.
The product development and clinical trials were funded in part by the Centre. iNCOVACC has been made available on the CoWin platform.
“With the rollout of iNCOVACC today, we have achieved our goal of establishing novel vaccine delivery platform for intranasal delivery. It proves that India can innovate for itself and for the world. We and the country are well prepared for future COVID-19 variants and future infectious diseases. We reaffirm our commitment to India, to lead innovation & develop novel vaccine technologies for combating infectious diseases & public health globally," said Krishna Ella, chairman and managing director, Bharat Biotech.
iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilized spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phase I, II and III clinical trials with successful results.
The vaccine is stable at 2-8°C for easy storage and distribution and has been designed for efficient distribution and easy pain free administration.
