Bharat Biotech International Limited’s iNCOVACC (BBV154) has received approval from India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Restricted Use in Emergency Situation for ages 18 and above, for heterologous booster doses for COVID-19.
The firm says this now makes iNCOVACC the world’s first intranasal vaccine to receive both primary series and heterologous booster approval.
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.
iNCOVACC was developed in partnership with Washington University, St. Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated in preclinical studies for efficacy. Product development related to preclinical safety evaluation, large-scale manufacturing scale up, formulation and delivery device development, including human clinical trials were conducted by Bharat Biotech. Product development and clinical trials were funded in part by the Government of India, through the Department of Biotechnology’s, COVID Suraksha Program.
Dr. Krishna Ella, chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, said: “iNCOVACC, is an intranasal vaccine for the primary 2-dose schedule, and heterologous booster dose. This is a great achievement for us and the global scientific community to enable nasal administration of COVID vaccines.
“Despite the lack of demand for COVID vaccines, we continued product development in intranasal vaccines to ensure that we are well-prepared with platform technologies for future infectious diseases. 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.
“iNCOVACC has been designed for efficient distribution, easy and pain-free administration. We have also initiated development of variant-specific vaccines for COVID for future preparedness.”
“We are excited by the expansion of the EUA for iNCOVACC as a booster, which enables this intranasal vaccine to be used by many more people, and hopefully curtail transmission,” said Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis, who co-developed the nasal vaccine technology with Washington University colleague David Curiel, MD, PhD. “This approval will increase the options for people to get vaccinated and protected against the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the ongoing pandemic.”
Washington University licensed the vaccine technology to Bharat Biotech in 2020 for further development.
