A vaccine to definitively put an end to the Covid? Early results show nasal spray reduces risk of severe covid by 86%

• Phase 1 results showed the spray reduced the risk of symptomatic Covid by 86%
• Nasal spray has been shown to be a more effective booster than FDA-approved injections
• An inhalable Covid vaccine could be a game-changer to finally banish Covid

A nasal vaccine that could finally curb Covid infections is one step closer to a reality after promising results from early trials.

The inhaled vaccine, made by researchers in Georgia, successfully reduced the risk of symptomatic Covid infections by 86% for three months in people who received it as a booster – almost double the protection offered by boosters of mRNA.

Although still in its infancy, this is an exciting development that may prove more effective than booster doses given as injections.

Nasal or “mucosa” vaccines are attractive for their ability to prime immune cells in the mucous membranes that line the cavities of the nostrils and mouth where the coronavirus first enters the body, and stop the virus in its tracks.

Nasal vaccines such as the one currently in development at Georgian startup Blue Lake Biotechnology Inc. focus immune protection in the upper respiratory tract, positioning powerful antibodies at the frontline.

In their phase 1 trial starting in August 2021, Blue Lake Biotechnology researchers included 72 participants aged 18 to 55 who had previously received two doses of an mRNA vaccine as well as unvaccinated healthy people.

They plan to expand the sample size and will continue to recruit subjects through December.

The vaccine technology relies on a type of parainfluenza virus that has been encoded with Covid’s trademark spike protein to train the immune system to recognize and fight it.

Once the contents of the vaccine are inhaled, small fragments of the parainfluenza virus replicate inside the nasal cavity to such an extent that it triggers an immune response without actually making the person sick.

Dr. Biao He, Founder and CEO of Blue Lake Biotechnology, said: “We were pleasantly surprised to see indications of a protective effect in this phase 1 trial.”

“We are delighted and encouraged by this result, and through our subsidiary, CyanVac LLC, we have submitted a protocol to the FDA for a phase 2 randomized controlled trial in which we look forward to more fully evaluating the immunogenicity of the vaccine and to better understand its protective efficacy.

The immune response elicited by the nasal spray vaccine could potentially be significantly more robust than a vaccine delivered by syringe.

Booster shots currently used in the US have been shown to reduce symptomatic infections by 43% in people age 65 and younger for roughly the same amount of time the spray is able to provide 86% protection. .

People in the trials who received the nasal spray experienced fewer side effects than those who received the injectable vaccine.

Nasal spray vaccines will appear to many as a less invasive way to gain protection against serious diseases, potentially attracting needle-phobic vaccine resistors.

The finished product is still a long way off and it’s the kind of next-generation Covid vaccines that public health officials say are urgently needed in case a new variant that can circumvent vaccine protection emerges.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the Food and Drug Administration and other experts at Brown University, said late last year: “The introduction of these boosters Bivalents likely represent only a temporary measure until variants emerge that require additional booster vaccination or modification of the current generation of vaccines.

“Therefore, serious consideration should be given to the development of a significantly improved generation of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that provide longer protection with greater reach.”