Archived: University of Houston nasal vaccine prevents COVID from spreading

A team of researchers from the University of Houston have developed a new vaccine to treat and prevent the spread of flu and multiple coronavirus strains.

Through two nasal sprays — an immune activating therapeutic treatment and a new vaccine — the team of UH researchers have not only broken ground on vaccinating against SARS-CoV-2 and the flu virus, but also on creating a universal coronavirus vaccine.

Dr. Navin Varadarajan, who leads the lab behind the nasal sprays, said the new vaccine will be a game-changer to the “major obstacle” of current vaccines, which can prevent people from serious illness, but not stop them from spreading the disease to others. 

“They can (current vaccines) keep you out of the hospital, but it doesn’t stop you from spreading it to vulnerable people,” Varadarajan said.

On top of providing a way to stop the spread of COVID to those most at risk — the elderly and immunocompromised — the new nasal vaccine is a crucial step forward in the goal of fighting viral evolution. 

It’s natural for viruses to change and evolve — and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is no exception. As viruses spread farther and faster, they can better adapt to their environment. Successful variants beat out weaker ones, which can lead to easier transmission or worsened disease. 

While many viral variants have minimal impact, over time viruses become stronger against existing vaccines. SARS-CoV-2 resides in the nose, and since existing vaccines are intramuscular, meaning they are administered through a shot in the arm, the virus is not actually eliminated from the body.

NanoSTING-SN, on the other hand, hits “the last mile” of the nose, which prevents the disease from spreading, Varadarajan said.  It’s also a pan-coronavirus nasal vaccine, meaning it works against the infection and disease of all viruses in the coronavirus family. 

In animals, the nasal vaccine was 100% effective in stopping transmission of the Omnicron variants of concern to unvaccinated hosts.

Despite the wide-use of Pfizer and Moderna, viral evolution of the disease forces scientists to keep updating existing vaccines.

To Varadarajan, the nasal vaccine can also stop the cyclical need to create more COVID boosters — a method he not only says doesn’t get to the heart of the problem, but also anticipates the general public will be less willing to sign on board for. 

Varadarajan explains that for a virus to be successful, it has to balance constantly evolving with staying in a living host. Without a host, the virus can’t spread to another host and survive. 

Some variants are less deadly but spread faster, and some variants are the other way around. Three years ago in Houston, researchers from the Laboratory of Human Molecular and Translational Human Infectious Diseases found that the Delta variant of COVID caused a much higher rate of vaccine breakthrough cases than all other variants for patients in the Houston Methodist hospital system.

The promise of a nasal vaccine could bring an end to the problem.

“You don’t want the virus to exist. As long as it lives in the host, you’re playing a game of Russian roulette with it. By not allowing the virus to exist in the nasal compartment, you can beat that,” Varadarajan said. 

Before starting the process of approving the nasal vaccine with the FDA, Varadarajan’s startup, AuraVax Therapeutics, is prioritizing the researchers’ second nasal spray, NanoSTING. The spray is a therapeutic treatment for influenza strains more resilient to viral evolution than existing treatments. Through an immune-boosting ingredient called cGAMP, the formula puts cells in an intensified state of alert to fend off respiratory viruses. 

Prescription treatment for viruses like the flu often run into the obstacle of resistant or sensitive strains of influenza. UH researchers say NanoSTING has the potential to be a broad-spectrum therapy, as it can override these resistant strains, unlike drugs such as Tamiflu.

First-author of the UH researchers’ report in Nature Communications, Ankita Leekha, said NanoSTING gives the advantage of requiring only one dose for treatment, as opposed to Tamiflu that requires 10. 

Ten doses of Tamiflu are not just bothersome for patients to use; many patients make the mistake of ending the treatment before they hit all 10 because they start to feel better, Varadarajan said.

Varadarajan said AuraVax Therapeutics aims to start phase 1 of testing the potentially broad-spectrum treatment within a year, and hopes their new nasal vaccine will follow in time too.

“We want to aim to get past this concept of, ‘It’s OK, it's a mild infection.’ The aim is to get past the virus.”