Hyderabad, December 8: Bharat Biotech is expected to initiate Phase-1 trials of itsintranasal vaccine for COVID-19 next month, Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Directorof the city-base vaccine maker said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a session of the three-day TiE Global Summit (TGS)being held virtually,he said Bharat Biotech is setting up two more facilities for vaccine manufacturing including Covaxin, a vaccine for the coronavirus.

"I think it will enter into phase 1 (next month) because it is going to be a single dose vaccine. The clinical trial process is also going to be faster," he said in an interactive session withKiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of Bengaluru-based Biocon Limited. India Reports 32,080 COVID-19 Cases, 402 Deaths in Past 24 Hours; Coronavirus Tally Crosses 97.35 Lakh-Mark.

Ella said as the upcoming vaccines for COVID-19 require two dose intramuscular injections, a country like India needs 2.6 billionsyringes and needleswhich may add up to pollution.

According to him, keeping several issues in mind Bharat Biotech tied up withWashingtonUniversitySchool of Medicine in St.Louis for a novel "chimp-adenovirus" (Chimpanzee adenovirus), single dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19. 'NEGVAC Has Recommended Around 1 Crore Health Workers Should be Given Priority in COVID-19 Vaccination', Says Health Ministry.

While the Phase I trials will take place in Saint LouisUniversity's Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit, Bharat Biotech, upon obtaining the required regulatory approval, will pursue further stages of clinical trials in India and undertake large scale manufacture of the vaccine at its GMP facility located in Genome Valley, here, BB had earlier said. Replying to a query on the probable pricing of Covaxin, he said Indian vaccines will be much cheaper when compared to other countries.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)