India’s first COVID intranasal vaccine iNCOVACC to be launched on January 26

“Our nasal vaccine will be officially launched on Republic Day on January 26,” Ella said during an event on Saturday. Here’s everything you want to know.

• The Center has already approved the Nasal Covid Vaccine for adults above 18 years and it will also be used as a heterologous booster dose.
• This means that people who have taken Covishield and Covaxin can take the nasal vaccine as an asymmetrical booster dose.
• iNCOVACC is the world’s first intranasal vaccine approved for both primary series and heterologous boosters.
• This vaccine will be available in private hospitals and will be included in the list of Kovid-19 vaccines. Bharat Biotech said that the intranasal vaccine will be sold 325 per shot for procurement by the government and 800 per shot for private vaccination centres.
• However, “no request for procurement has been made to the state or central governments,” sources close to the company revealed last month.
• It previously received approval for a primary 2-dose schedule under Restricted Use in Emergency Situations for adults 18 years of age and older. Phase III of the vaccine was tested for safety and immunogenicity in 3,100 subjects at 14 trial sites across India.
• The Hyderabad-based companies are also planning to export INCOVACC to other countries after getting approval from the respective countries.
• Company sources said Bharat Biotech is currently in discussions with international “potential partners” who have approached the company to manufacture and distribute the intranasal vaccine globally.
• The vaccine was developed in partnership with Washington University, St. Louis, which designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vector construct and evaluated it in pre-clinical studies for efficacy.

(with inputs from agencies)