Bharat Biotech Working On Nasal Vaccine To Fight COVID-19

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech is working on developing what could be a nasal vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic. This vaccine, when ready, will be delivered intranasally. "CoroFlu", as it is called, is different from other vaccines as it is built on a flu vaccine "backbone" shown to be safe and well-tolerated in humans in the first two phases of clinical trials. Bharat Biotech is collaborating with University of Wisconsin-Madison and US vaccine company FluGen. Animal testing is happening now and human trials are likely later this year. Bharat Biotech, that has so far commercialised 16 vaccines, including one against the H1N1 flu, hopes to manufacture the vaccine, conduct clinical trials, and produce almost 300 million doses of vaccine for global distribution. NDTV's Uma Sudhir spoke with Bharat Biotech Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella.