Bharat Biotech's nasal COVID-19 vaccine, iNCOVACC, to cost Rs 800

HYDERABAD : Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), based in Hyderabad, announced on Tuesday that the world's first nasal Covid-19 vaccine, iNCOVACC, is now available on CoWin at a price of Rs 800 plus taxes for private markets and Rs 325 plus taxes for supplies to the Government of India and state governments.

INCOVACC, according to Bharat Biotech, would be available as a booster dose for those over the age of 18 in the fourth week of January. Bharat Biotech received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) earlier this month for the use of heterologous INCOVACC booster doses.

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 was designed and developed to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.

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."

Despite the lack of demand for COVID vaccines, Bharat Biotech continued product development in intranasal vaccines, to be well-prepared with platform technologies for future infectious diseases. INCOVACC has been designed for efficient distribution and easy pain free administration, Bharat Biotech has also initiated development of variant-specific vaccines for COVID in an attempt to be future ready, said Bharat Biotech in a statement.

According to Bharat Biotech, INCOVACC is stable at 2-8°C for easy storage and distribution. Bharat Biotech had established large manufacturing capabilities at multiple sites across India, including Gujarat Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana, with operations pan India.