Needle-free intranasal COVID-19 vaccine offers broad immunity, study finds

A next-generation mucosal COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be a game-changer, not only in terms of vaccine delivery itself, but also for people with needle phobia.

A new study from Griffith University, “A single-dose, live-attenuated, codon-deoptimized intranasal vaccine provides broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants” published in Nature Communicationstested the effectiveness of administering a COVID-19 vaccine through the nasal passages.

Professor Suresh Mahalingam from the Griffith Institute of Biomedicine and Glycomics has been working on this research for four years.

“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 a single dose,” said Prof Mahalingam.

“The vaccine induces strong memory responses in the nasal mucosa, providing long-term protection of up to a year or more.

“It was designed to be given as a single dose, ideally as a booster vaccine, as a safe alternative to needles, with no short- or long-term side effects.”

Live attenuated vaccines offer several significant advantages over other vaccine approaches.

They induce powerful and long-lasting humoral and cellular immunity, often with a single dose.

Live attenuated vaccines contain the entire virus, providing broad immunity, unlike a single antigen used in many other vaccine platforms.

Lead author Dr Xiang Liu said the vaccine provides cross-protection against all variants of concern and has neutralising capacity against SARS-CoV-1.

“The vaccine provides effective protection against transmission, prevents reinfection and spread of the virus, while reducing the generation of new variants,” Dr. Liu said.

“Unlike the mRNA vaccine which targets only the spike protein, CDO-7N-1 induces immunity against all major SARS-CoV-2 proteins and is highly effective against all major variants to date.

“Importantly, the vaccine remains stable at 4°C for seven months, making it ideal for low- and middle-income countries.”

The vaccine has been licensed to Indian Immunologicals Ltd, a major vaccine manufacturer.

Dr. K. Anand Kumar, co-author of the publication and Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd. said, “We are a leading company in the field of ‘One Health’ that has developed and launched several vaccines for human and animal use in India and currently exports to 62 countries.”

“We have conducted all the necessary studies on this new COVID-19 vaccine which offers enormous advantages over other vaccines.

“We now look forward to moving the vaccine candidate into clinical trials.”

Professor Lee Smith, Acting Director of the Institute of Biomedicine and Glycomics, said he was delighted with the research findings.

“These results towards the development of a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine are truly exciting,” Professor Smith said.

“Our researchers are working to provide innovative and, above all, more accessible solutions to combat this high-impact disease.”