Coronavirus pandemic| Bharat Biotech set to develop intranasal COVID-19 vaccine: Here is all you need to know

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Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech announced on September 23 that it has collaborated with the Washington University School of Medicine to develop an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine.

Here are seven things you need to know about the novel chimp-adenovirus vaccine candidate:

Bharat Biotech plans to make up to 100 crore doses of the intranasal coronavirus vaccine.

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The Hyderabad-based company will own the right to distribute the single-dose vaccine in all markets except in the United States, Japan, and Europe.

The intranasal novel coronavirus vaccine is expected to reduce dependence on needles and syringes and help overcome the potential difficulties that come with distributing a vaccine, while also negating the need for personnel to administer the vaccine shot.

Unlike most other coronavirus vaccines being developed, this vaccine will be administered via the nose, which is often the initial site of an infection. Researchers have claimed that the nasal route for vaccination has often seen a stronger immune response throughout the body.

Dr David Curiel, Professor of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine has said an intranasal vaccine will “not only protect against COVID-19, but also prevent the spread of the disease by offering another kind of immunity that occurs primarily in the cells that line the nose and throat.”

Though the phase-I human trials of the intranasal COVID-19 vaccine will be conducted at the Treatment Evaluation Unit of Saint Louis University in the United States, Bharat Biotech is supposed to pursue the other stages of clinical trials in India.

This vaccine will expand Bharat Biotech’s vaccine portfolio as the company is already developing coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN, which is currently in the second phase of human clinical trials.

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