Nasal spray as treatment against human rhinoviruses causing common cold
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Umeå Biotech Incubator AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 2 000 000 |
| Project duration | May 2011 - January 2014 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
The aim was to clinically validate the effects of a nasal spray containing the hydrogen peroxide-producing enzyme glucose oxidase with the aim to alleviate / prevent colds and with the long term objective of making such a nasal spray commercially attractive. This purpose has been fulfilled with the help of the funds we received from Vinnova and know several OTC companies are showing interest to take the product to the market.
Expected long term effects
One study with 30 healthy volunteers received nasal spray with GO/placebo twice daily for 5 weeks. The active group showed less positive viral samples. Safety study with 40 healthy children under 4 years sprayed twice daily for 3 months with GO/placebo. No side effects. A study with 160 people having common colds did not show any significant improvement. PCR in vitro studies: Low concentrations of GO was very effective in inactivating human rhinovirus. GO spray was also more effective in inhibit virus growth compared to several of the competitor´s products.
Approach and implementation
User studies were performed according to plan aiming to shorten a period of common cold with a nasal spray containing glucose oxidase. In the studies, we used a so-called bag-on-valve bottle in order to prevent air from entering the bottle. After the studies we observed that the bottles produces in larger batches to be used in the larger studies did not have the same amount of active enzyme compared to bottles produces previously in smaller batches. This may partly explain the neutral results in one study.