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. 2024 Nov;36(46):e2406348.
doi: 10.1002/adma.202406348. Epub 2024 Sep 24.

Toward a Radically Simple Multi-Modal Nasal Spray for Preventing Respiratory Infections

John Joseph  1   2   3 , Helna Mary Baby  1   2 , Joselyn Rojas Quintero  3   4 , Devin Kenney  5 , Yohannes A Mebratu  3   4 , Eshant Bhatia  6 , Purna Shah  1   2 , Kabir Swain  1 , Dongtak Lee  1   2   3 , Shahdeep Kaur  1   2   3 , Xiang-Ling Li  1   2 , John Mwangi  1   2 , Olivia Snapper  1   2 , Remya Nair  3 , Eli Agus  1   2 , Sruthi Ranganathan  1   2 , Julian Kage  1   2 , Jingjing Gao  1   2   3 , James N Luo  3   7 , Anthony Yu  1   2   3 , Dongsung Park  8 , Florian Douam  5 , Yohannes Tesfaigzi  3   4 , Jeffrey M Karp  1   2   3   9   10   11 , Nitin Joshi  1   2   3
Affiliations

Toward a Radically Simple Multi-Modal Nasal Spray for Preventing Respiratory Infections

John Joseph et al. Adv Mater. 2024 Nov.

Abstract

Nasal sprays for pre-exposure prophylaxis against respiratory infections show limited protection (20-70%), largely due to their single mechanism of action-either neutralizing pathogens or blocking their entry at the nasal lining, and a failure to maximize the capture of respiratory droplets, allowing them to potentially rebound and reach deeper airways. This report introduces the Pathogen Capture and Neutralizing Spray (PCANS), which utilizes a multi-modal approach to enhance efficacy. PCANS coats the nasal cavity, capturing large respiratory droplets from the air, and serving as a physical barrier against a broad spectrum of viruses and bacteria, while rapidly neutralizing them with over 99.99% effectiveness. The formulation consists of excipients identified from the FDA's Inactive Ingredient Database and Generally Recognized as Safe list to maximize efficacy for each step in the multi-modal approach. PCANS demonstrates nasal retention for up to 8 hours in mice. In a severe Influenza A mouse model, a single pre-exposure dose of PCANS leads to a >99.99% reduction in lung viral titer and ensures 100% survival, compared to 0% in the control group. PCANS suppresses pathological manifestations and offers protection for at least 4 hours. This data suggest PCANS as a promising daily-use prophylactic against respiratory infections.

Keywords: antibacterial; antiviral; broad spectrum protection; nasal prophylaxis; nasal spray; pathogen capture; respiratory infections; virus neutralization.

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