Guwahati: The intranasal heterologous booster dose from Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech is only anticipated to hit the market during the first week of February, sources told ANI.
Bharat Biotech recently declared iNCOVACC (BBV154) to be a booster dose in the nation.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) gave Bharat Biotech permission to employ a heterologous booster dose of iNCOVACC earlier this month.
The vaccine is still unavailable on CoWin.
According to the company, the cost of iNCOVACC will be Rs 900 for supply to the private market and Rs 325 for supplies to the central government and state governments.
“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 has been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.” reads an official statement.
Dr Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech, 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 and 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.”
Bharat Biotech’s iNCOVACC will be the country of India’s first needleless booster shot.