First COVID-19 nasal spray vaccine being developed by Dartmouth Health, the NIH and Exothera 

Photo: Paul Biris/Getty Images

The National Institutes of Health, Belgium-based viral vector manufacturer Exothera and researchers at Dartmouth Health's Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine are working to develop and bring to market the first nasal COVID-19 vaccine.

Clinical trials are planned for the United States and Africa. The nasal-spray vaccine will not require refrigeration and does not need to be administered by a medical professional, making it a critical tool in the fight against COVID-19 in developing parts of the world, according to Dartmouth Health, the health system for its flagship hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

DHMC is the sole U.S. research and development site for the nasal vaccine. The research is being led by DHMC infectious disease and international health physician Dr. Peter F. Wright. 

WHY THIS MATTERS

The number of hospitalizations and deaths in both the United States and globally have been trending upwards in recent weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new booster is expected out at the end of September that would target the XBB variants, the most common current form of the virus.

Despite the rapid development of injectable COVID-19 vaccines, a majority of low-income and lower-middle-income countries were unable to achieve proper population coverage during initial vaccine rollouts, Dartmouth Health said. Even now, the percentage of the population fully vaccinated is below the level necessary to prevent continued transmission.

A vaccine that can be administered by anyone via nasal spray is anticipated to be highly effective in interrupting the transmission of COVID-19, as has been done successfully with oral drops given globally to prevent polio.

THE LARGER TREND

Intranasal vaccines show great potential to slow the transmission of COVID-19 as they have been used successfully in the past against other pathogens that enter the body via mucous membranes, including measles, rubella and other respiratory viruses, Dartmouth Health said.

Prior to a flu pandemic in 2009, a nasal spray vaccine was found to be effective against different flu viruses, according to the CDC. But the CDC recommended against nasal spray vaccine use for the flu from 2016 and 2018, when it was shown to be less effective among 2 to 17-year-olds.

Since the 2017-2018 season, the drug manufacturer has used new influenza vaccine virus ingredients that have been shown to be effective in other countries, but because of limited use, there have been no effectiveness estimates in the United States, the CDC said.

ON THE RECORD

"We are pleased to join this collaborative effort to develop and assess the safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of an adenovirus type 4 based vaccine expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as a novel approach to the prevention of COVID-19," said Wright, who is also a professor of pediatrics at Geisel. "Although unique in the COVID field, the vaccine has precedent in the highly successful prevention of adenovirus respiratory disease in the United States military."
 

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org