China to test nasal spray coronavirus vaccine

Some scientists believe that nasal sprays can be more effective than injections.

By RACHEL WOLF, REUTERS
George Washington University student Jessica Hirsh is given the H1N1 flu nasal spray vaccine at the Student Health Service clinic in Washington, November 19, 2009 (photo credit: REUTERS/HYUNGWON KANG)
George Washington University student Jessica Hirsh is given the H1N1 flu nasal spray vaccine at the Student Health Service clinic in Washington, November 19, 2009
(photo credit: REUTERS/HYUNGWON KANG)
China approved on Wednesday Phase I human trials for a coronavirus vaccine, the website Bloomberg reported on Friday.  The vaccine was developed by researchers at Xiamen University, Hong Kong University and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co.
Rather than an injection, the vaccine will be administered intranasally and can be used on adults and children, which could make it easier for parents whose kids are afraid of needles. While a nasal spray vaccine may sound unusual, these kinds of vaccines have been administered in the past for the flu.
The spray, according to Bloomberg, “contains weakened flu virus that carries the genetic segments of the coronavirus’s spike protein.”
When administered as a nasal spray, the vaccine simulates the way the virus infects humans, stimulating the immune system to respond, Bloomberg reported, citing Science and Technology Daily, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.
Frances Lund, an immunologist and vaccine developer at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, made the case in an interview with NPR that a nasal spray could be more effective than an injection.
"You still get systemic immunity if you deliver it via the intranasal route, so that doesn't go away – and you add a level of immunity that you don't get with an intramuscular vaccine," Lund told NPR. “And that immunity is local."
The spray is the 10th Chinese candidate to reach the human testing stage, according to Bloomberg. Across the globe, scientists are racing to develop a vaccine for the virus that has nearly brought the entire world to a halt.
Sheba Medical Center in Haifa reportedly will be starting human trials with 100 volunteers for a vaccine developed by Israel’s Institute for Biological Research, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported.
In June, the IIBR announced its vaccine was successful when tested on hamsters.
The vaccine will be given to volunteers as an intramuscular injection. If it is successful, trials will expand to include more volunteers.
AstraZeneca, considered by many to be a front-runner in vaccine development, had to pause trials, but announced on Saturday that they would resume.
The late-stage trials of the experimental vaccine were suspended this week after a study subject in Britain developed an illness.
"The standard review process triggered a voluntary pause to vaccination across all global trials, to allow review of safety data by independent committees and international regulators," AstraZeneca said.
"The UK committee has concluded its investigations and recommended to the MHRA that trials in the UK are safe to resume."
In total there are approximately 35 vaccine candidates worldwide, Bloomberg reported.
Cody Levine and Idan Zonshine contributed to this report.