Intra nasal H1N1 vaccine Nasovac by Serum Institute to hit Indian markets

Amidst all the alarming Swine Flu news, there is a good news that the wait for intra nasal vaccine may well be over soon. The indigenously vaccine, Nasovac, a product of The Serum Institute of India is expected to be available in markets within ten days. With the availability of this intra nasal vaccine in the market, there is a ray of hope that Swine Flu can be tackled more efficiently. 0.5ml dose of the vaccine is expected to cost Rs 150.

The availability of the intra nasal vaccine Nasovac comes at the right time when Swine Flu cases seem to be on the rise in several state following monsoons. Since the Swine Flu epidemic hit India in 2009, a lot of development and research has gone into conquering the Flu. Huge sums of money have been invested in the development of vaccines and anti viral drugs to combat the flu.

Intra Nasal vaccine, Nasovac is advantageous over the injectable forms of vaccine as it is convenient and painless to use. Not only this, the nasal vaccine is not known to cause convulsion, swelling or fever that is generally observed in injectable forms. Nasal spray also helps in development of anti bodies in nose, throat and blood for protection against H1N1. This easily administrable vaccine can be used on all except pregnant women and children aged below three years.

The intra nasal vaccine Nasovac contains live attenuated strains of weakened forms of H1N1 virus developed from the H1N1 virus strain. The H1N1 virus strain was supplied by the WHO to the Serum Institute post declaration of Pandemic. Trials of the intra nasal vaccine were completed early in April 2010 with the vaccine administered on 330 volunteers. The trials involving paediatric, adult and elderly were completed at Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Indore, Bangalore and Chennai.

The onset on Monsoon has witnessed spate of H1N1 cases in Maharashtra, AP and Kerala already.. The painless and cheaper nasal vaccine would be manufactured for half-a-million doses in July and another one million in August.  We will test market conditions before manufacturing on a large scale.” Poonawalla stated.