Nasal spray lowers COVID viral load by 94% in 24 hours, says Lancet study
COVID-19 Nasal Spray Study:
The study on Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS) was managed by Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company Glen mark in 306 vaccinated and un vaccinated adults with symptomatic mild COVID-19 across 20 clinical sites in the India.
A nasal spray administered in high-risk adult COVID-19 patients in the India reduced viral load by 94 % within twenty four hours and 99 % in forty eight hours, as per to the results of phase three trial of the drug issued in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal.
The study on Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS) was managed by Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company Glen mark in 306 vaccinated and un vaccinated adults with symptomatic mild COVID-19 across 20 clinical sites in the India.
The trial evaluated a 7 -day treatment of NONS plus standard of care versus placebo nasal spray and standard care in patients with symptomatic COVID-19. NONS was self-administered 6 ntimes daily as 2 sprays per nostril for 7 days.
The study was managed during the Delta and Omicron surges. The research explored that high risk patients who received NONS had significant reduction in viral load within 24 hours, which was sustained over 7 days of treatment.
Viral load was decreased by 93.7 % within 24 hours and by 99 % within 48 hours of treatment with NONS. Equal results were observed in vaccinated and un vaccinated populations, the authors told.
"The robust double-blind trial demonstrated significant efficacy and remarkable safety of NONS," Monika Tandon, Senior VP & Head - Clinical Development, Glen mark, and one of the authors of the study told .
"This therapy has the probable to make a pivotal contribution to COVID-19 management, with its ease of utilize in the current highly transmissible phase of pandemic," Tandon said in a statement.
NONS was issued in India under the brand name Fabi Spray in February, after it got manufacturing and marketing permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) as part of the accelerated approval procedure.
Nitric Oxide blocks entry into the nasal passage, kills the virus, and prevents its replication, which is why viral load is reduced so hurriedly with NONS, the statement said.
The median time to viral cure was 3 days in the NONS group and 7 days in the placebo group after the start of the treatment, it told.
The proportion of immediate contacts having a positive COVID-19 test or becoming symptomatic, remained nearly the similar in the NONS group while it numerically improved in the placebo group over the treatment, the authors added.
