Saturday, April 20, 2024
India on Monday approved using of the Covid-19 intranasal vaccine “iNCOVACC (BBV154)” of Bharat Biotech International Limited in Emergency Situations for ages 18 and above in India.
iNCOVACC, a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, is the world's first intranasal vaccine to receive both primary series and heterologous booster approval, reports Telegraph India.
The vaccine candidate was evaluated in three phases of clinical trials and the results were successful results. It has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops.
Bharat Biotech said that the nasal delivery system had been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.
The vaccine had earlier received approval under Restricted Use in Emergency Situation for ages 18 and above for a primary two-dose schedule.
Krishna Ella, chairman & managing director, Bharat Biotech, said, "Despite the lack of demand for Covid vaccines, we continued product development in intranasal vaccines to ensure that we are well-prepared with platform technologies for future infectious diseases... We have also initiated the development of variant-specific vaccines for Covid for future preparedness."
iNCOVACC was developed in partnership with Washington University, St Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vector construct and evaluated it in pre-clinical studies for efficacy.
