Tel Aviv University Scientists Say They’ve Developed Nasal Spray that Protects Against All Covid Variants

According to the researchers, the nano-vaccine ‘teaches’ the immune system to resist all COVID-19 variants as effectively as needle vaccines.

By Shula Rosen, United with Israel

The pandemic ended a couple of years ago but Covid and long Covid are still with us.

Although the era of lockdowns has passed, people are still hit with Covid and may experience potentially debilitating effects.

As an alternative to needle vaccines, Tel Aviv University scientists in cooperation with the University of Lisbon have developed a nasal spray that can provide immunity to all Covid variants with no need to store it at very cold temperatures.

Professor Ronit Satchi-Fainaro‘s lab at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University (TAU) developed the technology with Professor Helena Florindo’s lab at the University of Lisbon.

The nano-vaccine, a 200-nanometer particle, “teaches” the immune system to resist all COVID-19 variants as effectively as needle vaccines.

In addition it eliminates the need for a cold supply chain or cold storage, which makes it available for use among wider populations.

The groundbreaking study was published in the August 8, 2024, issue of Advanced Science and is featured on the cover of its October 28, 2024, issue.

“The new nano-vaccine’s development was inspired by a decade of research on cancer vaccines,” Professor Satchi-Fainaro explains. “When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we set a new goal: training our cancer platform to identify and target the coronavirus. Unlike Moderna and Pfizer, we did not rely on full protein expression via mRNA. Instead, using our computational bioinformatics tools, we identified two short and simple amino acid sequences in the virus’s protein, then synthesized them, and encapsulated them in nanoparticles.”

According to the study, the nasal spray vaccine was shown to prevent Beta, Delta, Omicron and all variants of COVID-19.

“Our nano-vaccine offers a significant advantage over existing vaccines because it is needle-free and administered as a nasal spray,” notes Professor Satchi-Fainaro. “This eliminates the need for skilled personnel such as nurses and technicians to administer injections, while also reducing risks of contamination and sharp waste. Anyone can use a nasal spray, with no prior training.”

In addition, the fact that the nasal spray vaccine doesn’t require freezing or special handling makes it more accessible.

For instance, Moderna’s sensitive mRNA-based vaccine must be kept at -20°C and Pfizer’s at -70°C.

“You just mix the powder with saline to create the spray. For testing purposes we shipped the powder at room temperature to the INSERM infectious diseases lab in France. Their tests showed that our nano-vaccine is at least as effective as Pfizer’s vaccine.”