Since 2020, the Instituto do Coração at Hospital das Clínicas, in São Paulo, has been studying a nasal spray vaccine against Covid-19.
“Our effort is for a year from now [disponibilizá-la]in this interval we will be able to have this antigen tested in human beings”, said researcher Marco Antonio Stephano, who is part of the team at USP’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in an interview with CNN Radio.
The scientist pointed out that every 6 months we see a new variant and “this has been very worrying”: “The virus is not going away anytime soon, injectable vaccines have been efficient, but we need to stop transmission.”
The “intention is to take the vaccine to the SUS”: “The production design is ready, but evidently we have not been able to produce it on a large scale yet because there is no laboratory ready for it.”
The technology of injectable vaccines, as explained by Stephano, is successfully applied in the United States and European countries against the flu virus.
“It works by stimulating the immune system cells in the nasal cavity, which protect us against dust, street bacteria and, in a way, the coronavirus, the vaccine uses this barrier to develop antibodies against Covid.”
At this point, the “most important thing is that we close the gateway to the virus”: “It would not have the cause of the disease and it would interrupt the transmission, because precisely the gateway would be protected and prevent the development of the disease.”
At the end of 2021, the researchers filed a request for clinical trials in humans with Anvisa, which asked questions about the effectiveness against variants of the coronavirus, such as Delta and Ômicron.
In this way, the formula returned to the laboratory to continue the tests and evaluate the effectiveness to neutralize the different strains of the coronavirus.
“We have seen that the antibodies are long-lasting, both in the circulation and in the nasal cavity”, he said.
*With production by Isabel Campos
Source: CNN Brasil
