A biotech startup called Altimmunce based in Maryland, USA, is in a bid to develop a nasal spray to fight COVID-19.
The startup company started their trial of the intranasal vaccine – AdCOVID – on a group of 180 individuals, ranging from 18 to 55 years of age and studied the effectiveness of vaccine, along with the kind of side-effects it prompts and the number of antibodies and T-cells it produces.
In an interview, Dr. Buddy Creech, Director of Vanderbilt University vaccine-research program and someone who worked with Altimmune, said, “Delivering vaccines to the sight of first exposure is an advantage.” “Typically, you don’t get COVID-19 in the deltoid muscle of your arm – you get it in your nose, eyes, and throat. So it makes sense we’d want to at least consider a vaccine that can generate some immunity in mucosal orifices, ” he adds.
The nasal vaccine looks forward to creating a separate line of defense in the mucosal membrane and prompts the immune system to produce antibodies that can block the infection.
While the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination has begun on a good note, the bid to develop other modes of vaccination are still being explored. In India, Bharat Biotech has previously sought permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) to con…
