BlueWillow Biologics, Inc. and Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corporation announced that its intranasal COVID-19 booster (BW-1019) provided protection and boosted immune response when administered following an intramuscular vaccine series in preclinical studies. The study examined the responses in hamsters receiving various regimens of intramuscular-only, intramuscular primary and intranasal booster vaccine, and negative control group receiving no vaccination. The results, which have been published on the preprint server bioRxiv, showed that the groups receiving the intranasal booster had significant induction of virus neutralizing antibodies and showed protection against COVID-19 disease.

In addition, all animals boosted intranasally with BW-1019, except that of the dose sparing group, had no detectable virus in their lungs and nasal passages. The intranasal COVID-19 booster combines BlueWillow's proprietary nanoemulsion technology, which acts as both an efficient antigen delivery and adjuvant, with Medigen's U.S. National Institutes of Health-licensed SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. BlueWillow's technology platform enables its robust pipeline of vaccine candidates, which includes programs directed at HSV-2, RSV, influenza, Anthrax and food immunotherapy.

The company recently announced positive interim data from a Phase 1 clinical trial in Anthrax. The platform is unique among intranasal solutions in that it does not rely on an adenovirus vector but rather utilizes the adjuvant that is proven to be safe in humans.