October 11, 2022

expert reaction to phase 1 clinical trial looking at tolerability and immunogenicity of intranasally-administered adenovirus-vectored (Oxford-AstraZeneca) COVID-19 vaccine

Results from a phase 1 trial looking at tolerability and immunogenicity of an intranasally-administered adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine have been published in eBioMedicine.

Dr Andrew Freedman, Reader in Infectious Diseases and Honorary Consultant Physician, Cardiff University, said:

“Mucosal vaccines delivered by the intranasal route offer significant advantages over standard vaccines delivered by injection.  These include convenience, patient preference and possibly enhanced immune responses.  They are already used extensively for protection against influenza, especially in children, and others are in development.

“It is therefore disappointing that this study demonstrated sub-optimal responses after giving the Oxford / Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) by this route.  The authors acknowledge certain limitations of the study, including small numbers of participants.  It should not however deter further work to develop more effective intranasal vaccines to protect against COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.”

‘Tolerability and immunogenicity of an intranasally-administered adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine: an open-label partially-randomised ascending dose Phase I trial’ by Meera Madhavan et al. was published in eBioMedicine at 00:01 UK time on Tuesday 11 October 2022.

Declared interests

Dr Andrew Freedman: “I have no conflicts of interest.”