Researchers from Columbia University have developed a long-lasting and affordable nasal spray that can successfully prevent Covid-19 infections. These sprays have currently been tested in ferrets, and 3D model of human lungs. However, the spray cannot be given out for public use just yet. Like any other medical tool, the nasal spray also needs to go through human clinical trials.
Currently, various vaccines are being developed by researchers around the world to provide effective prevention from COVID-19 but scientists say that nasal spray can help in prevention of the infection in places where mass vaccination can take longer time in the absence of a vaccine.
Also, people who do not get their hands on a vaccine can spray themselves daily, and keep the risk of the virus at bay. This will not only reduce the burden on healthcare but will also help limit the spread of the virus in humans, which is the ultimate goal, said the scientists.
The spray attacks the virus directly. It contains a lipopeptide, a cholesterol particle linked to a chain of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. This particular lipopeptide exactly matches a stretch of amino acids in the spike protein of the virus, which the pathogen uses to attach to a human airway or lung cell.
Before a virus can inject its RNA into a cell, the spike must effectively unzip, exposing two chains of amino acids, in order to fuse to the cell wall. As the spike zips back up to complete the process, the lipopeptide in the spray inserts itself, latching on to one of the spike’s amino acid chains and preventing the virus from attaching, explained the researchers.
“It is like you are zipping a zipper but you put another zipper inside, so the two sides cannot meet,” said Matteo Porotto, a microbiologist at Columbia University and one of the paper’s authors.
However, the team, said it would require additional funding to pursue clinical trials in humans. Dr. Anne Moscona, a pediatrician and microbiologist at Columbia and co-author of the study, said they had applied for a patent on the product, and she hoped Columbia University would approach the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed or large pharmaceutical companies that are seeking new ways to combat the coronavirus.
The work was described in a paper posted to the preprint server bioRxiv and has been submitted to the journal Science for peer review.