"Nature" Potential femoral nasal spray can prevent and treat COVID-19

A newly discovered small molecule can be sprayed into people's noses to prevent disease before exposure to COVID-19, according to a study of mice (K18-human ACE2 transgenic mice) led by researchers at Cornell University.

The study, published in the journal Nature, used laboratory mice implanted with human coronavirus receptors on their cell surfaces and found that a molecule called N-0385 inhibits the virus's entry into human cells

The treatment promises to prevent disease and reduce the severity and mortality of post-COVID-19 infection with just a few daily doses

"Few, if any, small-molecule antiviral drugs have been identified that can prevent infection," said Hector Aguilar-Carreno, associate professor of virology and the paper's senior author

"This is the first time," Aguilar-Carreno said

The broad-spectrum therapy was tested in mice with the first strain detected in Washington state in 2020, as well as the Delta strain, but it has not been tested on the Omicron variant, although researchers will remain effective.

The researchers introduced small molecules intranasally into mice before, during, and/or after infection

They tracked the weight of the mice -- because weight loss is a signal of infection and a good indicator of disease -- and other clinical and pathological measures, such as temperature and mortality, as well as mouse tissue analysis to understand small How did the mice respond

California-based EBVIA Therapeutics is currently raising funds for human trials, drug development, formulation and large-scale manufacturing

"Compared to other novel coronavirus treatments such as monoclonal antibodies, N-0385 therapy is simpler and less expensive to mass-produce," Aguilar-Carreno said

Nature

DOI

10.