India's 1st COVID intranasal vaccine iNCOVACC to be launched on 26 January. 10 key points

India's first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine iNCOVACC, which has been developed by homegrown vaccine maker Bharat Biotech, will be launched on January 26, the company's chairman and managing director Krishna Ella announced last week.

"Our nasal vaccine will be officially launched on January 26, on Republic Day," Ella said during an event on Saturday. Here is all you need to know.

Centre has already approved the nasal Covid vaccine for adults above 18 years and will also be used as a heterologous booster dose.

• That means those who have taken Covishield and Covaxin could take the nasal vaccine as a heterologous booster dose.

• iNCOVACC is the world's first Intranasal Vaccine to receive both Primary series and Heterologous booster approval.

• The vaccine will be available in private hospitals and will be included in the Covid-19 list of vaccines. Bharat Biotech said the intranasal vaccine would be sold at ₹325 per shot for procurement by the government and ₹800 per shot for private vaccination centres.

• However, “There have been no requests for procurement from state or central governments," sources close to the company revealed last month.

• It had earlier received approval under restricted use in an emergency situation for ages 18 and above for a primary 2-dose schedule. Phase III trials of the vaccine were conducted for safety, and immunogenicity in 3,100 subjects, at 14 trial sites across India.

• Hyderabad-based firms also plans to export iNCOVACC to other countries once it gets approvals from the respective nations.

• The company sources said Bharat Biotech is currently holding discussions with international “potential partners" who have approached the company for manufacturing and distribution of the intranasal vaccine globally.

• The vaccine was developed in partnership with Washington University, St Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated in pre-clinical studies for efficacy.

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