One more weapon against Sars-CoV-2 and in the future also against new respiratory viruses. This is what an anti-Covid nasal spray promises, developed by a team of Italians from the Italian-Swiss company Apr Applied Pharma Research sa, which has patented the technological innovation underlying the experimental spray. “From the statistics we have had access to, we know that at EU level there will be a good part of the population who will not get vaccinated, it is estimated that 20-30%, because they are hesitant or against it or because they have clinical conditions that do not allow it. with the spray we aim at these people “. Paolo Galfetti, CEO of Apr.
But there are other reasons why the spray could be an extra weapon against Covid. “If the trial started at the Irccs San Martino hospital in Genoa is successful – continues Galfetti – at the end of the year we will have the spray on the market. The goal, in addition to helping those who are not immunized, is to be able to supply a medical device capable of to intervene where we still do not have absolute scientific certainty: the potential contagiousness of vaccinated people and how long the vaccination coverage will last. In case we would therefore have a nasal spray that could help us against Covid, let’s think for example of closed environments, means of transport or theaters and cinemas. There are good premises and the preliminary data lead us to be very optimistic about the success of the spray and its effectiveness against Covid variants “.
The CEO is not unbalanced, but in the near future the spray could also be used against other respiratory viruses. “History has taught us that respiratory viruses are fearful – he warns – We must be ready and have tools, in addition to therapies and vaccines, to fight them”.
Patients have been enrolled for human tests of the anti-Covid nasal spray. The trial will verify the safety and efficacy of the product (Aos2020), inhaled into the two nostrils 3-5 times a day, in reducing the viral load in the upper respiratory tract. This data, when available, will represent the starting point for the use of the spray in the prevention of more serious symptoms and in reducing the contagiousness of people and the spread of the virus. The clinical study is conducted by the Hygiene Unit of the Genoese polyclinic and coordinated by Giancarlo Icardi, and will enroll a total of 57 patients infected with Sars-CoV-2, positive to the swab and with mild symptoms.
The first results are expected within 4 months and, if positive, the product – as Galfetti points out – will be available within the year. The spray is an aqueous washing solution that contains 0.005% hypochlorous acid, an antimicrobial substance also produced by the cells of our immune system, made stable and pure and therefore inhalable thanks to Tehclo *, a nanotechnology conceived and developed by a team of Italians of the Apr company that has patented technological innovation. The results of preliminary in vitro and in vivo tests, recently published in the Official Journal of the European Society of Otolaryngology, showed that the nasal spray eliminates the pandemic coronavirus in less than a minute without irritating the mucous membranes of the nose and throat.
The mechanism of action of the product is based on the washing action of the solution which, assisted by the effect of hypochlorous acid, would be able to mechanically remove and kill viruses and bacteria in less than a minute, including Sars-CoV-2, even the variants. The strong antimicrobial action of this substance is known, but until now it was not exploitable in this way as it cannot be inhaled because it is harmful to humans. The new nanotechnology, developed by a team of Italians, has made it inhalable without irritating the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. The storage of the solution does not require special precautions and can be kept for 2 years at room temperature between 5 and 25 ° C.