Australian Biotech Company Claims Its Nasal Spray Reduced Growth of COVID-19 in Animal Study

Australian biotech firm Ena Respiratory announced early today that a nasal spray the company is currently devising for the improvement of the human immune system to be protected from common cold and flu considerably reduced the growth of COVID-19 in a recent investigation on animals.

A report by Reuters indicates that "a study on ferrets" presented that the product called "INNA-051," which could be used to correspond to vaccines, reduced the levels of the infection that results in COVID-19 by up to 96 percent, said the company. The study was led by the British government agency Public Health England.

Specifically, according to Ena Respiratory, the company would be all set to use INNA-051 for human trials "in less than four months," depending on the successful toxicity investigations and regulatory authorization.

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$8-Million Project

According to reports, Ena Respiratory has raised an amount of $8.24 million to develop the nasal spray.

In this project, investors include Brandon Capital Ltd., a venture capital firm, CLS Ltd. CLS.AX, a pension funds and leading biotech firm; and the Australian federal government.

Meanwhile, several other businesses all over the world are also in the pursuit of devising a vaccine to combat COVID-19.

Relatively, Australia has entered into agreements with several drug businesses that invest billions of dollars to secure potential vaccines for the virus that has now killed more than a million globally.

As of this writing, this country has reported more than 870 deaths and more than 27,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the onset of the pandemic. The numbers are far less than the figures reported in other developed nations globally.

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The Nasal Spray

On its website, Ena Respiratory said its INNA-051 compound functions "by stimulating the innate immune system," the first line of protection from the pathogens' invasion into the human body.

By boosting the immune response in this way with the spray before the infection, the company said that this killer virus's ability to infect the animals and duplicate was intensely reduced, according to the PHE study.

More so, this study presents evidence that INNA-51 can be useful as an independent approach of "antiviral preventive treatment," in correspondence to vaccine programs.

According to Dr. Christopher Demaison, Ena Respiratory Managing Director, they have been amazed by how effective the nasal spray is. He also said, "By boosting the ferrets' natural immune response with the treatment," they have seen a rapid elimination of the virus.

Immediate Effect

INNA-051 is described as a "synthetic small molecule" and designed to be self-administered through an "easy-to-use nasal spray" taken or administered once or two times each week, the treatment showing effect almost immediately.

If human tests become successful, the managing director said, given the extraordinary need for medicines to fight COVID-19, this "prophylactic immune modulation treatment" could be quickly mass-produced and available for use soon.

Meanwhile, respiratory specialist Professor Roberto Solari said this is a significant development, as the whole globe races in search of a solution to halt the transmission of COVID-19, as well as the infection of populations at risk.

Solari, who is also a visiting professor at Imperial College London and an advisor to Ena Respiratory added, what's most exciting about this nasal spray is its ability to substantially decrease the virus levels in the throat and nose, "giving hope" that this treatment could lessen the transmission of the virus by infected individuals, particularly those who may be pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic, and therefore, not aware they are infectious.

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