Bharat Biotech starts dispatching nasal vaccines for COVID: Why it’s a big thing for India

The world's first intranasal heterologous booster dose has begun to be dispatched by Bharat Biotech to hospitals, Executive Chairman Dr. Krishna Ella announced on February 5. The dispatch started two days back, he informed ANI. India can innovate for both the country and the rest of the world, as evidenced by this vaccination, Dr. Krishna Ella earlier said.

He discussed the delivery of vaccines under the bilateral agreement between the Ella Foundation and the UW-Madison Global Health Institute for the establishment of the first-ever UW-Madison One Health Center in India for improving vaccines, medicines and global health education.

Also Read: India’s first intra-nasal Covid-19 vaccine iNCOVACC launched

The initial two-dose schedule and a heterologous booster dose, both given as nasal drops, have been approved for the first time for an intranasal COVID vaccination, known as iNCOVACC. The vaccination eliminates the need for syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, and bandages, which reduces the cost of production, distribution, storage, and disposal of biomedical waste.

Adenovirus vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised spike protein called iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication-deficient vaccine. Phase I, II, and III clinical trials on this vaccine candidate had positive outcomes.

Also Read: Bharat Biotech's nasal vaccine on CoWIN app today: How it works, where can you get it?

On the occasion of Republic Day, Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister, and Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of Science and Technology, launched iNCOVACC.

For large-scale purchases by the Central and state governments, the vaccine is priced at ₹325 per dosage. The intranasal vaccine is painless to administer and stable at 2 to 8°C for convenient storage and distribution.

Earlier on January 26, Dr Krishna Ella said, "With the rollout of iNCOVACC today, we have achieved our goal of establishing a novel vaccine delivery platform for intranasal delivery."

"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 and develop novel vaccine technologies for combating infectious diseases and public health globally," he added.

"We have proven these capabilities and expertise time and again with innovative vaccines such as TYPBAR TCV, ROTAVAC, JENVAC, COVAXIN and others. Bharat Biotech is a leading global developer and manufacturer of vaccines with more than 7 billion doses manufactured to date," he added.

(With ANI inputs)