Thai nasal-spray Covid vaccine to begin human trial in mid 2022
The nasal-spray Covid-19 vaccine “NASTVAC”, developed by the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotech), is expected to start testing on humans by April 2022, said Dr Anan Jongkaewwattana, director of the agency’s Veterinary Health Innovation and Management Research Group Unit on Friday.
Biotech is an affiliate of the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), which had started researching on Covid-19 vaccine since January 2019.
“We expect to submit all vaccine documentations to the Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by February next year, and hope that the human trial could start in April 2022,” he said. “In the trial phase, 200-300 doses of NASTVAC will be applied to volunteers. We will announce volunteer application once the FDA approves the human trial.”
“We have developed NASTVAC based on three kinds of nasal-spray vaccines: The virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine, the influenza-based vaccine, and the adenovirus vector-based vaccine,” he added.
Biotech said in August that laboratory mice treated with the adenovirus spray vaccine showed a strong immune response against Covid-19. Meanwhile, the modified influenza vaccine generated high levels of both antibodies and T cell immunity in mice.