Bharat Biotech Dispatches iNCOVACC to Hospitals, the Novel Intranasal Vaccine for COVID

The world’s first intranasal heterologous booster dose – iNCOVACC by Bharat Biotech is a two-dose schedule COVID vaccine dispatched to hospitals.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: February 06, 2023

Bharat Biotech had started dispatching iNCOVACC COVID vaccine, which is basically a nasal drop-based booster dose, the world’s first heterologous booster dose. Executive Chairman Dr. Krishna Ella said on 5 February that the distribution of the vaccine to hospitals began two days back and that India as evidenced by this vaccination can innovate for the nation and the rest of the world. He discussed vaccine delivery under the bilateral agreement. The agreement has taken place between UW-Madison Global Health Institute and Ella Foundation.

UW-Madison One Health Center is the sole establishment yet in India first of its kind for the improvement of global health education, medicines, and vaccines. The iNCOVACC COVID vaccination will help to reduce the cost of storage and disposal of biomedical waste. It will also cut the cost of production and distribution as there is no need for needles, syringes, bandages, and alcohol wipes.

The nasal vaccine is new to India, and Mansukh Mandaviya the Union Health Minister, had hinted in December about India’s technical expert committee on immunization was going to recommend the nasal vaccine against Covid to the nation soon. Initially, the vaccine will follow a two-dose schedule along with a heterologous booster dose. It has been approved as an intranasal vaccine for COVID for the first time given as nasal drops.

It was initially on Republic Day 2023 that Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Minister of Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh launched iNCOVACC. Dr. Krishna Ella said on 26 January that the rollout of iNCOVACC has helped India in its goal of establishing a novel platform for vaccine delivery. The vaccine in question is the Adenovirus vaccine whose Phase I, II, and III clinical trials have yielded positive results. It is a pre-fusion stabilized spike protein and a recombinant replication-deficient vaccine.

The vaccine cost is Rs. 325 per dose for large-scale purchases by the State and Central governments. The nasal drops are easy to administer and painless. It stays stable when stored at 2 to 8°C. Dr. Krishna Ella also expressed that India is well prepared for future infectious diseases and variants of the COVID-19 virus and we commit to developing novel vaccine technologies and innovating the same to combat infectious diseases for the good of public health globally.