Researcher Michael D’Agostino demonstrates use of the inhaled vaccine system. Photographer: Georgia Kirkos
Scientists at McMaster University who have developed an inhaled form of COVID vaccine have confirmed it can provide broad, long-lasting protection against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern.
The research, recently published in the journal Cell, reveals the immune mechanisms and significant benefits of vaccines being delivered directly into the respiratory tract, rather than by traditional injection. The laboratory and the researchers are part of McMaster’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats.
Because inhaled vaccines target the lungs and upper airways where respiratory viruses first enter the body, they are far more effective at inducing a protective immune response, the researchers report.
The reported preclinical study, which was conducted on animal models, has provided the critical proof of concept to enable a Phase 1 clinical trial that is currently under way to evaluate inhaled aerosol vaccines in healthy adults who had already received two doses of a COVID mRNA vaccine.
The tested COVID vaccine strategy was built upon a robust tuberculosis vaccine research program established by Zhou Xing, a co-lead author of the new study and a professor at the McMaster Immunology Research Centre and Department of Medicine.
“What we’ve discovered from many years’ research is that the vaccine delivered into the lung induces all-around protective respiratory mucosal immunity, a property that the injected vaccine is lacking,” Xing says.
Currently authorized COVID vaccines are all injected.
“We wanted, first and foremost, to design a vaccine that would work well against any variant,” explains the study’s co-lead author Matthew Miller, an associate professor at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research.
The McMaster COVID vaccine represents one of only a handful developed in Canada. The urgent work is a critical mission of Canada’s Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats, which is based at McMaster.
Researchers compared two types of adenovirus platforms for the vaccine. The viruses serve as vectors that can deliver vaccine directly to the lungs without causing illness themselves.
“We can remain ahead of the virus with our vaccine strategy,” says Miller. “Current vaccines are limited because they will need to be updated and will always be chasing the virus.”
Both types of the new McMaster vaccine are effective against highly transmissible variants because they are designed to target three parts of the virus, including two that are highly conserved among coronaviruses and do not mutate as quickly as spike. All COVID vaccines currently approved in Canada target only the spike protein, which has shown a remarkable ability to mutate.
“This vaccine might also provide pre-emptive protection against a future pandemic, and that’s really important because as we’ve seen during this pandemic – and as we saw in 2009 with the swine flu – even when we are able to rapidly make a vaccine for a pandemic virus, it’s already way too late. Millions of people died, even though we were able to make a vaccine in record time,” says Miller.
“We have revealed in our report that besides neutralizing antibodies and T cell immunity, the vaccine delivered into the lungs stimulates a unique form of immunity known as trained innate immunity, which is able to provide very broad protection against many lung pathogens besides SARS-CoV-2,” Xing adds.
In addition to being needle and pain-free, an inhaled vaccine is so efficient at targeting the lungs and upper airways that it can achieve maximum protection with a small fraction of the dose of current vaccines – possibly as little as 1 per cent – meaning a single batch of vaccine could go 100 times farther, the researchers say.
“This pandemic has shown us that vaccine supply can be a huge challenge. Demonstrating that this alternative delivery method can significantly extend vaccine supply could be a game changer, particularly in a pandemic setting,” says Brian Lichty, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine who co-led the preclinical study along with Miller, Xing and the senior trainees Sam Afkhami and Michael D’Agostino, who are the joint first authors of the study.
Original Article: Researchers confirm newly developed inhaled vaccine delivers broad protection against SARS-CoV-2, variants of concern
More from: McMaster University
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
COVID vaccine inhaler
- Return of masks and three-week isolation for infected schoolkids as whooping cough outbreak sweeps UK
The outbreak - which has tragically resulted in the deaths of at least five babies - has prompted a return of Covid-style measures ... Pregnant women are offered a free NHS whooping cough vaccine ...
- Kiley Petersmith brings healthcare to the community
C Nebraska Methodist College. Kiley Petersmith is addressing the community’s health needs by bringing accessible health care to those in need.
- Chemicals in flavoured vapes potentially ‘very toxic when heated’ - Tech & Science Daily
The researchers said these flavourings weren’t intended to be heated to high temperatures and inhaled, and suggested the number ... AstraZeneca has announced it is withdrawing its covid vaccine from ...
- Inflation’s hit to the FDA
The FDA’s top drug regulator wants Congress to know that flat taxpayer funding is forcing the FDA to make choices about how it deploys its funds.
- China Reopening After COVID: Latest Developments and Business Advisory
Start exploring China introduces its inaugural four-valent Covid vaccine. Residents in Beijing and various ... Partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2)/inhaled oxygen concentration ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
COVID vaccine inhaler
[google_news title=”” keyword=”COVID vaccine inhaler” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Inhaled Covid vaccine
- ‘Inhumane’: Utah mom slaps drug company with lawsuit after suffering COVID vaccine trial injuries
Brianne Dressen shared with Fox News Digital why she decided to file a lawsuit against AstraZeneca after taking part in the drug company's COVID-19 vaccine trial.
- Link between COVID-19 vaccine complication and rare 'common cold' blood disease
New research led by Flinders University and international experts is expanding understanding of vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (known as VITT).
- CDC Vaccine Update: Recommendations, Data on COVID-19, RSV, Influenza, and PCV21
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices February meeting covered vaccines for COVID-19, influenza, RSV, and pneumococcal infections.
- The Covid-19 Pandemic
By Rebecca Robbins All vaccines have at least occasional side effects. But people who say they were injured by Covid vaccines believe their cases have been ignored. By Apoorva Mandavilli ...
- Predictors of Early COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Include Older Age, Positive Attitudes
Early COVID-19 vaccine uptake is associated with older age, higher numeracy, higher COVID-19-related risk perception, and positive attitudes toward vaccination, according to study results published in ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Inhaled Covid vaccine
[google_news title=”” keyword=”inhaled Covid vaccine” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]