Anti-covid nasal formula trial was a failure, says Oxford statement

A preliminary clinical trial of a nasal formula of the anti-covid vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with the British laboratory AstraZeneca failed, according to a statement released this Tuesday (11).

Oxford estimates that this study is the first to be published on a nasal spray adenovirus vector vaccine.

The researchers observed an antibody response in the nasal mucosa “in a minority of participants,” explained the University of Oxford.

The “systemic immune response to intranasal vaccination was also weaker than an intramuscular vaccination,” the statement added.

“This nasal spray didn’t work as well as we had hoped,” commented Sandy Douglas, an associate professor at the university who participated in the study.

She highlighted that a study in China obtained good results with a more complex vaporizer that launches the vaccine deeper into the lungs and estimated, therefore, that it is possible that a large part of the vaccine tested fell into the digestive tract with the nasal spray used.

The study used the same adenovirus vector that is used for the vaccine developed by Oxford with AstraZeneca, one of the first anti-covid serums introduced onto the market at the height of the pandemic.

“Administering vaccines through the nose and airways is one of the most promising ways to achieve immunity” and “could end mild Covid infections and transmission of the virus more effectively than injected vaccines,” noted Adam Ritchie, one of the program leaders. of vaccines from Oxford.

It also has the benefit of “avoiding the use of a needle. Many parents know that nasal sprays are already used for flu vaccines offered to school children in some countries, including the UK,” she added.

The trial involved 30 people who had not previously been vaccinated.