Intranasal Covid-19 Vaccine: Bharat Biotech Set To Begin Phase 1 Trials By Feb-Mar

Phase-1 clinical trials of Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech's new intranasal antidote for Coronavirus will begin during February-March this year.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: After receiving approval for its coronavirus vaccine, Hyderabad based pharma company Bharat Biotech is seeking the nod to begin phase 1 trial for its intranasal vaccine. According to a report by PTI the company has said that Phase-1 clinical trials of its new intranasal antidote for the killer virus will begin during February-March this year.

Development of the intranasal vaccine

The company tied up with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis for developing the intranasal vaccine. According to the report, the vaccine which is known as BBV154 is a novel "chimp-adenovirus" (Chimpanzee adenovirus) and will be a single-dose intranasal vaccine for Covid-19. The company has said that the preclinical testing for the vaccine has been completed for toxicology, immunogenicity, and challenge studies. These studies were conducted in the USA and India.

‘Phase I human clinical trials will commence during Feb-March 2021,’ the company said in the report. Krishna Ella, Chairman of Bharat Biotech elucidated several advantages of using intranasal vaccines and said that unlike the two dose intramuscular injections "One drop of vaccine in each of the nostrils is sufficient.”

He also said that with injections there is also fear of increased pollution. In a country like India 2.6 billion syringes and needles will be required and intranasal vaccines will reduce this need which in turn impacts the cost of the vaccination drive.

Ella has said that the company would scale the vaccine to one billion doses. Bharat Biotech has also said that the intranasal vaccine candidate has shown unprecedented levels of protection in mice studies and the technology and data having been already published in the prestigious scientific journal ''Cell'' and in an editorial in ''Nature''.