Union Health Minister to launch world’s first Made-in-India COVID-19 nasal vaccine tomorrow

The first nasal vaccine manufactured in India, called “iNCOVACC,” will be introduced on Thursday by Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, according to government reports. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Intranasal heterologous booster dosage is expected to be ready in the market by the first week of February, reports further said.

Recently, Bharat Biotech announced iNCOVACC® (BBV154) as a booster dose in the country.
Earlier this month, Bharat Biotech received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for the use of heterologous booster doses of iNCOVACC®.

The vaccine is still not available on CoWin. According to the statement issued by the company, iNCOVACC® i is priced at Rs 800 for private markets and priced at Rs 325 for supplies to the government of India and State Governments.

“iNCOVACC® is a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion-stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phases I, II and III clinical trials with successful results. iNCOVACC® has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops. The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.” the statement read.

Dr Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman said; “We have achieved the goals we set for ourselves during this pandemic. We have developed COVAXIN® and iNCOVACC®, two COVID vaccines from two different platforms, with two different delivery systems. The vectored intranasal delivery platform gives us the capability for rapid product development, scale-up, easy and painless immunization during public health emergencies and pandemics. We thank the Ministry of Health, CDSCO, Dept of Biotechnology, Govt of India, Technology Development Board, and Washington University, St Louis, for their support and guidance.”

As a needleless vaccination, Bharat Biotech’s iNCOVACC® will be India’s first such booster dose.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman, Bharat Biotech, and Suchitra Ellla, Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech will also be present at the launch.