AstraZeneca Plc’s ambitions to expand easier formulations of its Covid-19 vaccine, which can also curb contagion, suffered a setback on Monday after the nasal spray failed an initial test.
According to researchers at the University of Oxford, the aerosol vaccine triggered a strong immune reaction in the nasal mucosal tissue or in the rest of the volunteers’ bodies. Astra shares fell less than 1% in London.
The British drugmaker is one of the few corporations investigating the approach, arguing that a nasal inoculation can thwart the virus at its point of entry. Others come with Meissa Vaccines Inc. In India and China, Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and CanSino Biologics Inc. , nasal products that have been approved as boosters by local regulators.
The lead researcher of the Astra trial, Sandy Douglas, said the setback suggests that “there will probably be difficulties in making nasal sprays a reliable option. “
The vaccine has been studied in 30 first-time immunizations and 12 boosters. According to Douglas, peer-reviewed knowledge has been published to support approved nasal products in China and India.
“We urgently want more studies to expand vaccines that can block the transmission of pandemic respiratory viruses employing convenient routes of administration at scale,” he said in a statement.
Andrew Freedman, professor of infectious diseases at Cardiff University, described the effects of the trial as disappointing and said they do not “deter further work to develop more effective intranasal vaccines to protect against covid-19 and other respiratory infections”.
Astra’s injected Covid vaccine, also developed with scientists at Oxford’s Jenner Institute, has been used as widely as Moderna Inc. ‘s messenger RNA injections. and the Pfizer Inc. et BioNTech SE partnership.
Astra also makes Flumist, a flu vaccine in nasal spray form, which has been an option for needles that can potentially offer coverage at the site of the viral attack, the respiratory tract.
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The Oxford trial, supported through Astra and the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, began in mid-2021, ended in 2022 and did not exclude participants due to past infections. swallowed and destroyed in the stomach. The findings were published in The Lancet’s open-access journal eBioMedicine, according to the statement.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated source. )
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