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| Thailand is developing an anti-COVID-19 nasal spray. The spray is expected to be soon tested on volunteers at the National Cancer Institute. (File photo by= Government Pharmaceutical Organization) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] infections by neutralizing the coronavirus when it enters the nose. The spray is currently in the research and development phase, CNA reported.
It is a joint development by the public and private sectors, including the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, which discovered the antibody used in the prototype. “We conducted research and discovered antibodies, which are the immunity created by the human body to stop COVID-19,” said Assistant Professor Dr. Nakarin Sirisabya from the Faculty of Medicine. One of the antibodies was selected and designed to work outside the body in an area it is applied, he added, unlike COVID-19 vaccines which have to develop immunity to the coronavirus from inside the body.
The antibody-based spray stops the virus from infecting the body through the nose, which scientists believe is the main entrance for COVID-19 to the respiratory system. Besides Chulalongkorn University, the partnership also includes the Government Pharmaceutical Organization, the Health Systems Research Institute, Silpakorn University, and the private firm Hibiocy Co Ltd.
