Bharat Biotech to begin trial of intranasal Covid-19 vaccine

Indian firm Bharat Biotech will be commencing Phase I trials of its intranasal Covid-19 vaccine candidate next month.

PTI reported Bharat Biotech chairman and managing director, Krishna Ella, as saying in a session of TiE Global Summit that two more facilities could be established for vaccine manufacturing including Covaxin, a vaccine for the coronavirus.

“I think it will enter into Phase I (next month) because it is going to be a single-dose vaccine. The clinical trial process is also going to be faster.”

In September, Bharat Biotech signed a licensing agreement with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis for a novel chimp adenovirus, single-dose intranasal vaccine for Covid-19.

With the deal, the company gained the rights to supply the vaccine in all markets except the US and Japan, as well as Europe.

The Phase I trials of the vaccine candidate will take place at Saint Louis University’s Vaccine & Treatment Evaluation Unit.

On receiving the required regulatory approval, the company will conduct further stages of trials in India.

It also anticipates carrying out large scale manufacture of the vaccine at its GMP facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, a city in the Indian state of Telangana.

Indian vaccines will be much cheaper in comparison to other countries, the news agency reported Ella as replying to a query on the Covaxin pricing.

In October, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation expert panel recommended granting approval to Bharat Biotech for conducting Phase III clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin.