German scientists make nasal vaccine breakthrough

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By Caolán Magee, CNN

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Wednesday, April 5

Scientists in Germany have made a significant breakthrough in their nasal vaccine research, creating a shot that can shut down Covid-19 in the nose and throat, the areas of the body where the virus initially starts to spread.

Scientists believe these vaccines could be more effective in stopping the coronavirus in its tracks.

The nasal vaccine developed at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association in Berlin takes a new approach to an old idea.

It is made with a live but weakened form of the virus that causes Covid-19. When administered, the vaccine triggers an immune system reaction, teaching the body how to recognize and fight off the real virus.

Administering the vaccine in the nose rather than injecting it in the arm allows the immune system to act as soon as the virus enters the body through the respiratory system.

Tested in hamsters, two doses of the live but weakened nasal vaccine created a much stronger immune response than either two doses of an mRNA-based vaccine or one that uses an adenovirus to ferry the vaccine instructions into cells, according to a study published in the journal Nature Microbiology on Monday.

The researchers think the live weakened vaccine probably worked better because it closely mimics the process of a natural infection.

Unlike the mRNA vaccines, the nasal vaccine previews the entire coronavirus for the body, not just its spike proteins, so the hamsters were able to make immune weapons against a wider range of targets.

Although this vaccine has several more hurdles to clear before it gets to a doctor's office, across the world, other nasal vaccines are already in use, or nearing the finish line in clinical trials. At least four Covid-19 nasal vaccines have reached late-stage testing in people, according to the World Health Organization's vaccine tracker.

There are nasal vaccines in use in China and India, although it is not clear how effective they are, because efficacy data has not been published. Researchers at Mount Sinai in New York City are also trialing a recombinant nasal vaccine that can be produced cheaply in chicken eggs, the same way many flu vaccines are. Recombinant vaccines use genetically engineered versions of viruses to trigger immune responses.

Researchers are working on new alternatives to injected vaccines for Covid-19.
(Photo: Hou Yu/China News Sevice/VCG/Getty Images)

Another nasal vaccine that uses a similar method to the German shot is being developed by a company called Codagenix. Results of trials, which were carried out in South America and Africa, may come later this year, according to the company. The German team said it was eagerly watching for the Codagenix data.

As promising as the progress of the German nasal vaccine sounds, vaccine experts say caution is warranted.

The German study began in 2021 and was conducted before the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was around, so the vaccine tested in these experiments was made with the original strain of the coronavirus. When tested against the Omicron variant, the vaccine still performed better, but its ability to neutralize the virus was diminished. Researchers think it will need an update.

While other nasal vaccines are further along, the progress has been "slow and halting," said Dr. Greg Poland, who designs vaccines at the Mayo Clinic. The costs of getting a new vaccine to market are steep, and some tend to think the vaccine race has been won and done, he said.

IN OTHER NEWS

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YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED.

Have nasal vaccines been used to treat other types of viruses?

Yes.

FluMist, a live but weakened form of the flu virus, works reasonably well in children. However, it isn't as effective when treating adults.

The reason is thought to be that adults already have immune memory for the flu, and when the virus is injected into the nose, the vaccine mostly boosts what's already there.

Read the full story here.

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