'iNCOVACC' is priced at Rs 800 for private markets and at Rs 325 for supplies to the government of India and state governments.
First a scientist and then a businessman, founder chairman Krishna Ella quit his faculty position at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, United States, in 1996 to return to India.
iNCOVACC is the world's first intranasal vaccine for COVID-19 to receive approval for the primary two-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose.
Bharat Biotech had said last month that it expects approval for its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin from the World Health Organisation for emergency use listing during July-September.
The termination of the pact comes after the deal with the Brazilian government for supply of 20 million doses of the vaccine landed in controversy and attracted investigation by authorities in that country.
The Hyderabad-based firm completed clinical trials of the nasal vaccine with about 4,000 volunteers and there is no side effect or adverse reaction reported so far, company sources had said.
'He came back from the US only to work for his country.' 'He has invested his fortunes to build this company and is married to his work.' 'Rarely does one see such commitment.'
The Brazilian health regulator's decision comes after the vaccine maker informed the South American country about the termination of its pact with its partners in that country.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
WHO has urged people at risk to keep up with their vaccinations with boosters.
Under the conditions, the firms shall submit data of ongoing clinical trials and the vaccines to be supplied for programmatic setting.Adverse event following immunisation will continue to be monitored.
Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella along with Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary Google CEO Sundararajan Pichai are also among those from trade and industry who have been awarded the Padma Bhushan for their distinguished services.
Reacting to it, the vaccine maker said it is working towards resolving the issues cited during the inspection and the order of 20 million doses from the Brazilian government is still active.
The BJP received the highest amount in large donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, with over Rs 2,243 crore declared from 8,358 donations, according to a report by poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The report, based on data submitted to the Election Commission, highlighted trends in political donations above Rs 20,000. The total declared donations to national parties stood at Rs 2,544.28 crore from 12,547 contributions - a sharp 199 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
An expert panel of India's central drug authority on Wednesday recommended granting regular market approval to COVID vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use in adult population subject to certain conditions, official sources said.
There were apprehensions in the SII about rival Bharat Biotech's 'indigenous' tag, opening up shortcuts for it. One senior person, who was very familiar with the sector, told me, 'The message has gone out from the very top. Somani (V G Somani -- drug controller general of India) has told me "Bharat ka karna hai".' A fascinating excerpt from Abantika Ghosh's Billions Under Lockdown: The Inside Story Of India's Fight Against COVID-19.
'Please don't read something which is not there in DG, ICMR's letter. The intent of the letter is only to expedite duly approved clinical trials without compromising on security and safety concerns'
The foreign envoys were taken to Hyderabad over a month after the ministry of external affairs briefed over 190 heads of diplomatic missions and representatives of leading international organisations on COVID-19 related issues.
The Indian government and private firms have stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of COVID-19 which has claimed over 3,700 lives with more than 1,25,000 cases in the country.
Australia's medicines and medical devices regulator on Monday formally recognised India's Covaxin, a vaccine against the coronavirus as the country's border was reopened for the first time in nearly 20 months.
Responding to another question, Choubey said that the phase-I of clinical trials have revealed excellent safety of the two candidate vaccines indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research and Cadila Healthcare Ltd, and now their immunogenicity testing is in progress. Their phase II clinical trials are ongoing.
To address the shortage of COVID-19 jabs in the country, the government is exploring the possibility of boosting production of vaccines, including identifying manufacturing sites for indigenously developed Covaxin outside India, sources said.
Pfizer sought to participate in the Subject Expert Committee consultations towards an emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine. However, the company representatives have been unable to participate in the meetings because of extremely short notices of a few hours or less and time-zone limitations.
Facing accusations of delay in placing orders for vaccines, the government on Thursday defended its vaccine procurement policy saying it has been pursuing Pfizer, J&J and Moderna since mid-2020 for the earliest possible imports, and has even waived local trials for well-established foreign vaccine makers.
Since India is one of the largest vaccine producers in the world, it is the country's 'moral responsibility' to fast-track vaccine development process to break the chain of coronavirus transmission, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said referring to the two vaccine candidates developed indigenously.
The bench, which was critical of the Centre's stand on the issue, said "You (government) are so short of vaccines and you are not taking it through. May be it is an opportunity for you. Don't be so negative. It is like a raging fire and nobody is bothered. You people don't understand the larger picture or what.
"The concrete actions are a stern indication that Government of India is making all out efforts to increase vaccine production in the country as well as attracting foreign vaccine manufacturers to supply the required vaccine doses for national Covid vaccination programme," the ministry in a statement.
According to the sources, there are limited prospects of J&J exporting its vaccine from the US to other countries in the near future and the "entire production" at the BE facilities in India, beginning July/August, will be handed over to the pharma giant under a contract between the companies.
India has purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the United States company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidate from Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.
The first nationwide mock drill was held on January 2 which, the health ministry said, helped to iron out any glitches in the final execution and further refinement of the operational procedures.
The vaccine candidate, ZyCoV-D, showed a "strong immune response" in animal studies, and the antibodies produced were able to completely neutralise the wild type virus, Zydus said. The 12 institutes have been asked by the ICMR to fast track clinical trials of the vaccine as it is being considered as one of the top priority projects which are being monitored at the topmost level of the government.
Unless public health is prioritised over swift re-opening, the chances are that a third wave will hit India sooner than we would like.
'Whenever you roll out: effectiveness is important, operational logistics are important, side effects are important and vaccine hesitancy is important.'
Students who have received admission to foreign universities are struggling with unexpected delays, additional living costs and scarcity of vaccine supplies.
'The future looks quite bleak unless we ramp up testing and start vaccinating on a war footing.'
'We are going ahead with the trials assuming what we have is the vaccine.' 'There is also a chance that what you have is not the vaccine. Then, you have to go back to the drawing board again.' 'So far, there has been no success in developing a good vaccine against coronaviruses.' 'That's why there are hundreds of trials going on at different stages in different parts of the world.'
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers's queries on stocks they own or want to buy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances