US begins testing new nasal COVID-19 vaccine
A Phase 1 trial has begun to test an experimental nasal vaccine designed to protect against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. The trial is currently enrolling healthy adults at multiple locations in the United States.
Clinical trials have begun for an experimental nasal vaccine designed to protect against new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US medical research agency, has begun Phase 1 trials to test the safety of the nasal vaccine.
The trial is currently enrolling healthy adults at three sites in the United States: Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Emory University’s Hope Clinic in Decatur, Georgia, and New York University on Long Island.
This vaccine has been developed by scientists at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
NIAID Director Dr. Jeanne M. Marrazzo emphasized the importance of developing new vaccines.
“First-generation COVID-19 vaccines have been important in preventing severe disease and death, but they are less effective in preventing infection and mild cases. As new virus variants emerge, we need next-generation vaccines, including nasal vaccines, to reduce infection and transmission,” he said in a statement.
The study will include 60 adults ages 18 to 64 who have received at least three doses of an FDA-approved mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
Led by Dr. Hana M. El Sahli at Baylor College of Medicine, participants will be divided into three groups. Each group will receive different doses of the nasal spray vaccine.
Over a period of a year, scientists will monitor how well the vaccine is tolerated and whether it produces an immune response in the blood and nose.
All you need to know about the nasal vaccine for the COVID-19 virus
This experimental vaccine, called MPV/S-2P, uses murine pneumonia virus (MPV) to deliver a stabilized version of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
MPV does not cause disease in humans, but targets respiratory cells, potentially increasing vaccine effectiveness.
Pre-clinical studies in non-human primates have shown that MPV/S-2P is safe and well-tolerated, producing strong immune responses in the body and in tissues of the nose and respiratory tract.
This suggests that mucosal immunity, which is the immune response in the nose and throat, may be more effective at controlling respiratory viruses.
