This simple, needle-free COVID vaccination device might stop transmission

“Finally,” many of us thought when we received our first jabs to vaccinate us against COVID-19 back in 2020 and 2021.

Nearly four years later, COVID is still surging, constantly mutating to create new variants that evade our immunity from prior infections and the latest vaccines. And if the immediate and long-term harm from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 disease) wasn’t enough to worry about, the deadly H5N1 avian flu variant is circulating in the U.S.

Now, a new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis says a different method of immunization can do more to stop the virus than vaccine injections with syringes. In their study with hamsters, vaccines that were sprayed or dropped into the nasal passages reduced the infected rodent’s respiratory viral load to help prevent secondary airborne transmission and infection of other hamsters.

“To prevent transmission, you need to keep the amount of virus in the upper airways low,” senior author Jacco Boon, a professor of medicine, molecular microbiology and pathology and immunology, said in a news release. “The less virus that is there to begin with, the less likely you are to infect someone else if you cough or sneeze or even just breathe on them. This study shows that mucosal vaccines are superior to injected vaccines in terms of limiting viral replication in the upper airways and preventing spread to the next individual. In an epidemic or pandemic situation, this is the kind of vaccine you’re going to want.”

Intranasal vaccine device design

The researchers used a nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on Washington University technology. That drug, iNCOVACC (for intranasal covid vaccine), is the world’s first needleless, intranasal COVID vaccine. It’s approved for use in India and manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International.

iNCOVACC is distributed in glass vials and administered using a simple, disposable plastic piece that snaps on top. That dropper is used to deliver 0.5 ml of vaccine in the patient’s nose: four drops per nostril for eight drops in total.

After the patient blows their nose to clear their nasal passages, they lay back, tilt their head and receive two drops in one nostril while closing the other nostril with their finger. Then they switch nostrils for two more drops before rolling their head from side to side, and then repeating the process for four more drops.

The single-use dropper is then disposed of, while the multi-dose vial containing the vaccine can be sealed with a rubber stopper and used for the next patient.

When launching the vaccine in January 2023, Bharat Biotech said it was “designed for efficient distribution and easy, pain-free administration” and specifically formulated for intranasal delivery through nasal drops. Bharat Biotech said it designed and developed the delivery system to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.

“Despite the lack of demand for COVID-19 vaccines, Bharat Biotech continued product development in intranasal vaccines to be well-prepared with platform technologies for future infectious diseases,” the company said. “Bharat Biotech has also initiated development of variant-specific vaccines for COVID in an attempt to be future ready.”

What’s next for intranasal vaccines

“For this study we used drops in hamsters, but for the future of this vaccine, people are comparing drops versus spray to determine which one is more efficient in inducing immunity,” Boon told Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Washington University has licensed the intranasal vaccine technology to Malvern, Pennsylvania-based Ocugen for further development in the U.S. That drug developer said last year it planned to test both intranasal (via nasal spray) and inhalable delivery for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, OCU500.

Ocugen plans to file an investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA for human trials not just for an inhalable OCU500, but also for an inhalable flu vaccine (OCU510) and flu/COVID combination vaccine (OCU520).

Ocugen says the benefits of inhalable, noninvasive vaccines include the potential for increased compliance, scalable manufacturing, storage and shipping in standard refrigeration, and the potential to develop multi-strain and variant-specific versions.

Previously: Researchers develop device that detects airborne COVID-19 virus — llamas and ‘wet cyclone’ tech helped