COVID-19 Nasal Vaccine Developed

Researchers have developed novel intranasal COVID-19 vaccine using non-viral particle technology to create immune response in the respiratory tract against inhaled pathogens.

The development of an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine that provides durable local immunity against inhaled pathogens is reported in the journal iScience.

Remarkable progress has been made in developing intramuscular vaccines against coronavirus such as the readily available Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

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‘A non-viral COVID-19 vaccine formulation that elicits immunity in respiratory tract is developed.’

In this scenario, a nasal COVID-19 vaccine has been approved to provide mucosal immunity in the nose, the first barrier against the virus before it travels down to the lungs.

“Mucosal vaccination can stimulate both systemic and mucosal immunity and has the advantage of being a non-invasive procedure suitable for immunization of large populations” said Varadarajan, Professor at University of Houston.

However, mucosal vaccination has been hampered by the lack of efficient delivery of the antigen and they need an appropriate adjuvant that can stimulate a robust immune response without toxicity.

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An adjuvant is an ingredient used in some non-viral vaccines that helps to create a stronger immune response in people receiving the vaccine.

To solve those problems, researchers developed an adjuvant named NanoSTING made up of interferon genes (STING) within liposomal particles.

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They used NanoSTING as the adjuvant for intranasal vaccination and single-cell RNA-sequencing to confirm the nasal-associated lymphoid tissue as an inductive site upon vaccination.

The results showed that this vaccine formulation is safe, produces rapid immune responses within seven days, and elicits comprehensive immunity against COVID-19. Sterilizing immunity to virus re-infection requires adaptive immune responses in the respiratory tract and the lung.

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A fundamental limitation of intramuscular vaccines is that they are not designed to elicit mucosal immunity. The nasal vaccine will overcome this problem and also can be distributed equitably across worldwide as adjuvant (NanoSTING) are stable for over 11 months and can be stored and shipped without the need for freezing.

Source-Medindia