Ocugen announced that it has acquired US, European, and Japanese rights to an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine developed at Washington University in St. Louis. In September 2020, Bharat Biotech announced that it had acquired rights to rights to the Washington University intranasal COVID-19 vaccine outside of the United States, Europe, and Japan, and Bharat recently announced approval of the iNCOVACC intranasal vaccine for emergency use in India. Ocugen has been partnered with Bharat Biotech on the Covaxin COVID-19 vaccine and acquired US rights to that vaccine in February 2021.
Ocugen Chairman and CEO Shankar Musunuri commented “Washington University’s COVID-19 nasal vaccine technology has been shown to induce strong mucosal immunity with potential to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection, transmission, and the emergence of new variants. As the effort to end the pandemic focuses on effective booster options, Ocugen is excited about the potential for this vaccine to be a universal booster, regardless of previous COVID-19 vaccination history. We look forward to working with US, European, and Japanese regulators to expedite development.”
Washington University School of Medicine professor Michael S. Diamond, a co-inventor of the intranasal vaccine, said, “In recent months we have seen COVID-19 continue to spread—despite high levels of vaccination the US, Europe, and Japan have achieved. Because the vaccine can be delivered directly into the nose, it is specifically designed to block infection at the portal of virus entry, and we believe it may help prevent transmission as well as provide protection against new COVID-19 variants.”
Read the Ocugen press release.
