New COVID-19 nasal spray outperforms current antibody treatments in mice - Northwestern Now

In addition to losing effectiveness, current antibody therapies also come with several problems: They are difficult to develop, expensive and require a healthcare professional to administer. They also require complicated supply chains and extreme refrigeration, which is often unavailable in low-resource settings.

The new antiviral solves all these problems. As opposed to monoclonal antibodies, which are made by cloning and culturing living mammalian cells, the new antiviral treatment is produced large-scale in microorganisms like E. coli, making them more cost-effective to manufacture. Not only is the new therapy stable in high heat, which could further streamline manufacturing and decrease the cost of goods for clinical development, it also holds promise for being self-administered as a one-time nasal spray, bypassing the need for medical professionals.

The researchers imagine that it could be available at the pharmacy and used as a preventative measure to treat infections.