(Adnkronos) - MELBOURNE, Australia, July 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Starpharma's broad-spectrum VIRALEZE™ nasal spray has shown protection against infection with the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in a stringent viral challenge model.
VIRALEZE™ is a broad-spectrum barrier nasal spray, developed
Challenge models are often used in viral diseases to assess the ability of a product to treat or prevent an infection.
In this study, conducted at Scripps Research in the US, 100% of animals treated with VIRALEZE™ before and after Omicron virus challenge had no detectable virus in lung, trachea, or nasal cavity at up to four days post-challenge.
VIRALEZE™ was also highly effective even if used only after exposure to virus – animals treated with VIRALEZE™ only after virus exposure exhibited a >99.999% reduction in viral load in both lung and trachea, compared with saline-treated animals, at day seven. This finding is important because it suggests that even when VIRALEZE™ is used after exposure to virus (e.g., you forget to use the spray before exposure in a high-risk situation), it has potential to provide significant benefit.
These impressive results for VIRALEZE™ were in contrast to saline-treated animals, where 100% had high levels of virus detected in lung, trachea, and nasal cavity from as early as two days post-challenge.
Starpharma CEO Dr Jackie Fairley commented:
"Countries around the world are experiencing significant strain in their healthcare systems as a result of Omicron outbreaks. VIRALEZE™ represents an additional tool for use alongside vaccinations in these challenging times."
These new data provide further in vivo validation that VIRALEZE™ is highly effective in trapping and blocking virus in the nasal cavity and suggest that VIRALEZE™ could be used to help protect from infection with respiratory viruses, including multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, and potentially as post-exposure prophylaxis to reduce severity of viral respiratory disease.
VIRALEZE™ also has a potential role in future pandemic preparedness given that SPL7013 in VIRALEZE™ has been shown to highly effectively block a broad spectrum of respiratory viruses, including pandemic-causing viruses, such as multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, influenza A and B , and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in vitro.
For more information, visit www.starpharma.com