Developed by a joint research team in the United States and Canada
Inhibits infection by blocking the activity of specific human enzymes
Photo = Getty Image Bank (regardless of the article)
A joint research team in the United States and Canada has succeeded in developing a nasal spray candidate that can prevent and treat COVID-19. It is expected that the US FDA will be able to start the process for emergency use approval within six months at the earliest.
The research result of a joint research team at the University of British Columbia in Canada and Cornell University in the US developed a nasal spray-type COVID-19 treatment candidate was introduced in the international academic journal Nature on the 28th (local time).
The therapeutic spray candidate announced by the research team, named N-0385, blocks viral infection. Specifically, N-0385 inhibits infection by blocking the activity of certain human enzymes that the virus uses to infect host cells.
The enzyme targeted by N-0385 is present in the nasal cells, where the virus primarily invades. The research team pointed to the strength of this compound as it is not significantly affected by the COVID-19 mutations discovered so far, so it can be useful in defense against future virus strains.
Researchers at Cornell University conducted a nasal spray experiment using genetically engineered mice. The researchers infected mice and administered the compound as a nasal spray for four days. As a result, all 10 mice treated with the compound survived, but the survival rate of the control group was 20%.
In addition, according to the results of a mouse experiment, it not only inhibited the infection of COVID-19, but also showed a protective effect when administered within 12 hours after exposure to the virus. Although this study mainly focused on alpha, beta, gamma and delta mutations, the researchers believe that it may also work for microns.
Dr. Francois Jean, who led the study, said, “At the current stage of the study, N-0385 was also found to be effective in blocking omicron mutation infection in human lung cells. “It has the potential to be used as a broad-spectrum therapeutic for viruses with the same infection mechanism, including influenza viruses such as C.”
Jang Ji-min, Guest Reporter at Hankyung.com newsinfo@hankyung.com
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