New Delhi: In a key development, Bharat Biotech, the indigenous manufacturer of COVAXIN was granted an approval to conduct trials for the use of its intranasal vaccine as a booster dose. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in a statement today announced the approval.
The approval comes after DCGI’s Subject Expert Committee (SEC) passed the trial protocols enlisted by the firm three weeks ago. This intranasal COVID-19 booster is the first of its kind in India. As per parameters laid down by the Hyderabad based pharma firm, the trials will be done at 9 different sites in the country.
Elaborating on the efficiency of the nasal vaccine, Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Dr Krishna Ella, said “If you take one dose of nasal vaccine you could block the infection and thereby block the transmission chain and then you can flatten the curve. It is just about 4 drops like Polio, 2 in one nostril and 2 in the other. Now global authorities like the WHO are getting convinced about nasal as a second-generation vaccine.“
This approval comes as a feat for Bharat Biotech as the Drug Controller a day before had granted regular market approval for COVID-19 vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use in the adult population subject to certain conditions.