Bharat Biotech’s nasal COVID vaccine gets DCGI nod

The subject expert committee (SEC) had last week recommended emergency use authorisation for BBV-154, the report said. Also Read | Explainer: Intranasal vaccine against COVID-19 and why it is awaited so eagerly India’s drug regulator had earlier allowed clinical trials for intranasal vaccine as a booster dose. It had also granted permission to the firm to conduct a phase-3 clinical trial to compare the immunogenicity and safety of BBV-154 (intranasal) with Covaxin, Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine.

India-made Covaxin is a double-dose vaccine which has been part of the India’s inoculation drive against the coronavirus along with the mainstay Covishield, the AstraZenca shot manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, Also Read |All about the world’s first inhalable COVID-19 vaccine to get approval “We have submitted phase 3 clinical trial application to DCGI,” a Bharat Biotech spokesperson said in December, adding that an intranasal vaccine as a booster dose would be easier to administer in mass vaccination campaigns.

AlsoRead | World’s first Covid vaccine you inhale is approved in ChinaBenefits of COVID-19 nasal vaccine Any injectable vaccine only protects the lower level (of the body) that was why people who were vaccinated with injectable vaccines may still get RT-PCR positive, whereas the nasal vaccine gives protection to the whole body, news agency PTI quoted Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella as saying. The firm completed clinical trials of the nasal vaccine with about 4,000 volunteers, Ella said. He said there was no instance of side effects. “Intranasal vaccine stimulates a broad immune response,” the company has claimed. Other benefits: As mentioned by Bharat Biotech, the nasal vaccine is:

• Likely to block both infection and transmission of COVID-19
• Non-invasive and needle-free
• Easy to administer as it does not require trained healthcare workers
• Eliminates needle-associated risks (injuries and infections)
• High compliance – ideally suits children and adults
• Scalable manufacturing – able to meet global demand