Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare unveiled the iNNCOVACC COVID19 vaccine on Republic Day, in the presence of Union Minister of State (IC) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh. iNNCOVACC is the world’s first intranasal COVID19 vaccine to receive approval for the primary 2-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose.
It is developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in collaboration with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance (BIRAC), a PSU under the Dept of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.
Expressing his elation at the event, Dr Mandaviya said that over 65% of vaccines supplied in the world are from India. Congratulating the BBIL team and the dept of Biotech for bringing about the world’s first nasal vaccine, he stated that “being the world’s first intra-nasal COVID19 vaccine, this marks a glorious tribute to the call for Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
The Minister added that India’s vaccine manufacturing and innovation capability is appreciated all over the world as it has made a mark in producing quality and affordable medicines. He also highlighted that BBIL in collaboration with ICMR introduced COVAXIN in India within a month of the launch of first COVID vaccine in the world.
Congratulating BBIL for innovating another vaccine in collaboration with BIRAC, Dr Jitendra Singh said that “India has taken a lead in developing vaccines and medicines for diseases common in the developing world”. “Next step would be to develop vaccines for non-communicable diseases”, he added.
iNCOVACC is a cost effective covid vaccine which does not require syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, bandage, etc, saving costs related to procurement, distribution, storage, and biomedical waste disposal, that is routinely required for injectable vaccines.
It utilizes a vector-based platform, which can be easily updated with emerging variants leading to large scale production, within a few months. These rapid response timelines combined with the ability of cost effective and easy intranasal delivery, makes it an ideal vaccine to address future infectious diseases.
A rollout of iNCOVACC is expected to begin in private hospitals that have placed advance orders. Initial manufacturing capacity of several million doses per annum has been established, this can be scaled up to a billion doses as required. iNCOVACC is priced at INR 325/dose for large volume procurement by State Governments and Govt of India.
