Bharat Biotech's nasal Covid-19 vaccine approved

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, announced on Twitter that Bharat Biotech's indigenously developed nasal Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for adult use in emergency situations.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's (CDSCO) approval of the vaccine makes its the first intranasal Covid-19 vaccine in the country according the Hindu. Dr Mandaviya continued to say that India's scientific and research community were vital in this step towards beating the pandemic.

“India has harnessed its science, research and development, and human resources in the fight against COVID-19 under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership. With the science-driven approach and Sabka Prayas, we will defeat COVID-19,’’ he said.

Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, said that this new vaccine, named iNCOVACC, represented an important step forward for vaccine delivery in India, even if demand for Covid-19 vaccines is on the wane.

“iNCOVACC will be a global game changer in intra-nasal vaccines technology and delivery systems. Despite the lack of demand for COVID-19 vaccines, we continued product development in intra-nasal vaccines to ensure that we are well prepared with platform technologies for future infectious diseases," he said.

According to the Hindu, this new vaccine delivery method has the double impact of enabling quicker development of variant-specific diseases, as well as easy mass immunisation to increase vaccination rates. Developed in partnership with Washington University St. Louis in America, Bharat Biotech reportedly has large manufacturing centres pan-India, including in Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.