According to the Centenary Institute, the New South Wales COVID-19 Vaccine Acceleration Research Grants Program has awarded a grant worth AU$995,867 to researchers at the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney to support development of an intranasal vaccine against COVID-19. Sydney–based Ab Initio Pharma, which was recently granted a license to manufacture finished OINDPs, will work with the researchers to develop a dry powder formulation of the vaccine for nasal delivery.
Chief Investigator Warwick Britton, who leads the Centenary Institute’s Tuberculosis Research Program, commented, “Although approved vaccines substantially reduce severe disease and hospitalization, there is little evidence they block viral transmission, especially for newly emerging variants. This is because current intramuscular vaccines do not stimulate production of virus-neutralizing antibodies and T cells in the nasal cavity and airways, sites where infection commences in the body.”
Britton added, “If successfully translated to the clinic, this vaccine strategy would be a transformative innovation in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, addressing needs not met by current vaccines. It offers an approach to reduce COVID-19 related morbidity in vulnerable populations and also to limit viral transmission amongst the wider community, thereby reducing disruption to our economy and daily life.”
Read the Centenary Institute press release.
