Bharat Biotech Collaborates With Washington-Based University For Intranasal COVID Vaccine

Hyderabad: India’s vaccine maker Bharat Biotech is collaborating with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis for a novel chimp-adenovirus, single-dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19.

The Hyderabad-based company owns the rights to distribute the vaccine in all markets except USA, Japan and Europe, IANS reported.

The Phase I trials will take place in Saint Louis University’s Vaccine & Treatment Evaluation Unit. Once Bharat Biotech obtains the required regulatory approval, it will pursue further stages of clinical trials in India. It will also undertake large scale manufacture of the vaccine at its GMP facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, the report added.

Studies on mice have shown unprecedented levels of protection. The technology and data have been published in the scientific journal ‘Cell’.

“We are proud to collaborate on this innovative vaccine. We envision that we will scale this vaccine to 1 billion doses, translating to 1 billion individuals vaccinated receiving a single-dose regimen. An intranasal vaccine will not only be simple to administer but reduce the use of medical consumables such as needles, syringes, etc., significantly impacting the overall cost of a vaccination drive,” Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, was quoted as saying by IANS.

“An effective nasal dose not only protects against Covid-19, but it also prevents the spread of the disease by offering another kind of immunity that occurs primarily in the cells that line the nose and throat. Most other vaccine candidates currently under development can’t do that,” David T. Curiel, Director of Biologic Therapeutics Center and Professor of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Precision Virologics Interim CEO was quoted as saying by IANS.