Bharat Biotech has requested the central government to include its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine iNCOVACC, in the CoWIN portal to allow recipients of the vaccine to obtain vaccination certificates.
Bharat Biotech has requested the central government to include its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine iNCOVACC, in the CoWIN portal to allow recipients of the vaccine to obtain vaccination certificates.
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.
“Given that iNCOVACC has been approved for ‘restricted use in emergencies’ and those vaccinated will need vaccination certificates, we have asked the government to include iNCOVACC in the COWIN portal. Once this is activated, India will be one of the few countries to have introduced an intranasal vaccine into its COVID vaccination programme,” the sources told PTI.
Currently, Covaxin from Bharat Biotech, Covishield and Covovax from Serum Institute, Russian Sputnik V and Corbevax from Biological E Ltd are listed on the CoWIN portal.
The vaccine maker on September 6 announced that its iNCOVACC (BBV154), the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, has received approval from India’s Drug Controller General under restricted use. in an emergency for 18 years and over.
“There have been no requests for supplies from state governments or central government,” the sources added.
The city-based vaccine maker also plans to export the iNCOVACC to other countries once it gets approvals from the respective countries, sources added.
iNCOVACC (BBV154) has also received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for restricted emergency use for ages 18 and older in India, for heterologous booster doses.
The vaccine was developed in partnership with Washington University, St Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vector construct and evaluated it in preclinical studies for its efficacy.
The candidate vaccine has undergone phase I, II and III clinical trials with positive results and has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal administration by nasal drops.
Phase III trials have been conducted for safety and immunogenicity in approximately 3,100 subjects, at 14 trial sites across India.
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