Global News


First Indian intranasal COVID-19 vaccine recently launched

Indian biotech company Bharat Biotech launched its new intranasal COVID-19 vaccine iNCOVACC on the 26 January 2023 ‒ the vaccine is the first of its kind to be developed in India.

The vaccine is already approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in India for the treatment of patients over 18 years of age, and can be used as a heterologous booster dose, meaning those who are already vaccinated with other variations can take the nasal vaccine as their booster.

The vaccine can be given six months after the second dose of the initial vaccination programme.

The vaccine will be available to both the government and private vaccination centres, priced at 325 rupees ($3.99) per shot for the government, and 800 rupees ($9.83) per shot for private vaccination centres.

Nasal vaccines can be particularly effective as the nose is often the entry point for the virus, so by creating an immune response at the point of entry, a patient is protected against disease, infection and transmission.

Dr Krishna Ella, Bharat Biotech’s executive chairman, has commented: “We have achieved the goals we set for ourselves during this pandemic. We have developed COVAXIN and iNCOVACC, two COVID-19 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 immunisation during public health emergencies and pandemics.”