Indian Immunologicals nasal COVID vaccine a 'gamechanger': Study

New Delhi: A new nasal, needle-free COVID-19 vaccine, licensed to Hyderabad-based Indian Immunologicals, is expected to be a significant breakthrough in the fight against the virus, according to research released on Tuesday.

Published in the journal, Nature Communications, the research showed the vaccine induces strong memory responses in the nasal mucosa offering long-term protection for up to a year or more.

The study, led by a team from Griffith University in Australia, explored the effectiveness of administering the COVID-19 vaccine, CDO-7N-1, through the nasal passages.

“This is a live attenuated intranasal vaccine, called CDO-7N-1, designed to be administered intranasally, thereby inducing potential mucosal immunity as well as systemic immunity with just a single dose,” said Professor Suresh Mahalingam of Griffith's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics.

“It’s been designed to be administered as a single dose, ideally as a booster vaccine, as a safe alternative to needles with no adverse reactions in the short or long term,” Mahalingam said.

Compared to alternative vaccination strategies, live-attenuated vaccines provide several important advantages.

Their effects on humoral and cellular immunity are strong and persistent, but they frequently require a dose.

Unlike many other vaccine platforms that use a single antigen, live-attenuated vaccines include the complete virus, resulting in broad immunity.

Dr Xiang Liu, the lead author of the study noted that CDO-7N-1 “provides cross-protection against all variants of concern”. It also has neutralising capacity against SARS-CoV-1 -- the respiratory illness responsible for the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.

“The vaccine offers potent protection against transmission, prevents reinfection and the spread of the virus, while also reducing the generation of new variants,” Liu said.

“Unlike the mRNA vaccine which targets only the spike protein, CDO-7N-1 induces immunity to all major SARS-CoV-2 proteins and is highly effective against all major variants to date. Importantly, the vaccine remains stable at 4 degrees Celsius for seven months, making it ideal for low- and middle-income countries,” Liu added.

The vaccine has been licenced to Indian Immunologicals -- a significant vaccine producer for human and animal use.

Dr. K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director of Indian Immunologicals said the company has “completed all the necessary study of the vaccine” and now plans to launch “clinical trials”.

Reference: Liu, X., Ng, W.H., Zusinaite, E. et al. A single-dose intranasal live-attenuated codon deoptimized vaccine provides broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Nat Commun 15, 7225 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51535-y

Read also: Havisure: India's first indigenously developed Hepatitis A vaccine launched