Bharat Biotech to begin Phase 1 trials of intranasal vaccine for COVID-19

Krishna Ella, Chairman of Bharat Biotech had earlier said the company is focusing on the intranasal vaccine as the existing vaccines require two dose intramuscular injections and a country like India needs 2.6 billion syringes and needles which may add up to pollution.

An intranasal vaccine will not only be simple to administer but reduce the use of medical consumables such as needles, syringes, etc., significantly impacting the overall cost of a vaccination drive, he had said.

"One drop of vaccine in each of the nostrils is sufficient," he had said.

According to him, keeping several issues in mind Bharat Biotech tied up with Washington University School of Medicine for the single dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19.

He had said Bharat Biotech envisions that it would scale this vaccine to one billion doses, translating into equal number of individuals being vaccinated receiving a single-dose regimen.

Bharat Biotech, upon obtaining required regulatory approval, will pursue further stages of clinical trials in India and undertake large scale manufacture of the vaccine at its GMP (good manufacturing practice) facility located in Genome Valley, here, the company had earlier said.

The intranasal vaccine candidate has shown unprecedented levels of protection in mice studies and the technology and data having been already published in the prestigious scientific journal ''Cell'' and in an editorial in ''Nature'', the company had said.

Bharat Biotech has successfully completed enrollment of 25,800 volunteers for the Phase-3 trials of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.

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