India nasal vaccine price: ₹800 at private, ₹325 in govt hospitals, GST extra for Bharat Biotech iNCOVACC

Days after the Indian government cleared the use of the country's first nasal vaccine against Covid-19, the inoculant's price has been revealed.

Bharat Biotech's iNCOVACC is set to cost ₹800, excluding a Goods and Services Tax (GST) levy for private markets. The needle-less vaccine will cost ₹325 plus GST for government supplies.

A press release from the vaccine maker said the jab will be rolled out in the fourth week of January, 2023.

The approval of the nasal vaccine was announced on 23 December 2022. It will be available at private hospitals as a booster dose for adults who have already been injected with 2 doses of either Covaxin or Covishield.

The ministry's approval for the intranasal vaccine as a booster comes amid a spurt in Covid cases in China and some other countries.

The nasal vaccine -- BBV154 -- had received approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 years as a heterologous booster dose.

The intranasal vaccine iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phase I, II and III clinical trials with successful results, the Hyderabad-based vaccine-maker had said in a statement.

Clinical trials were conducted to evaluate iNCOVACC as a primary dose schedule as well as a heterologous booster dose for subjects who have previously received two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin.

(With PTI inputs)

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