A new nasal spray called "Pathogen Capture and Neutralizing Spray" (PCANS) offers a drug-free way to protect against respiratory infections by forming a barrier in the nose that captures and neutralizes viruses and bacteria effectively.
- PCANS is a drug-free nasal spray that prevents respiratory infections. - It forms a protective coating in the nasal cavity to capture and neutralize pathogens. - Reduces pathogen load by over 99.99%. - Safe for daily use and retains in the nasal cavity for at least 8 hours. - Protects against severe H1N1 Influenza in mice, improving survival and reducing lung viral levels.
This is from Journal in 2025 at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.02.560602v1
1. Pathogen 2. Nasal Spray 3. Respiratory Infections 4. Prophylactic 5. Neutralizing
Abstract
Respiratory infections pose a global health crisis. Vaccines are pathogen specific, and new vaccines are needed for mutants and emerging pathogens. Here, we report a “drug free” prophylactic platform - a “Pathogen Capture and Neutralizing Spray” (PCANS) that acts via a multi-pronged approach to prevent a broad spectrum of respiratory infections. PCANS forms a protective coating in the nasal cavity that enhances the capture of large respiratory droplets. The coating acts as a physical barrier against a broad spectrum of viruses and bacteria, and rapidly neutralizes them, reducing the pathogen load by >99.99%. In mice, PCANS showed nasal retention for at least 8 h and was safe for daily administration. A single prophylactic dose of PCANS protected mice against supra-lethal dosages of a mouse-adapted H1N1 Influenza virus (PR8), reduced lung viral titer by >99.99%, improved survival, and suppressed pathological manifestations. Together, our data suggest PCANS as a promising daily-use prophylactic approach against current and emerging respiratory infections.
Competing Interest Statement
J.J., H.M.B, Y.T., and J.M.K have one pending patent based on the PCANS formulation described in this manuscript. N.J. and J.M.K are paid consultants, scientific advisory board members, and hold equity in Akita Bio, a company that has licensed IP generated by N.J. that may benefit financially if the IP is further validated. The interests of N.J. were reviewed and are subject to a management plan overseen by his institution in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. J.M.K has been a paid consultant and or equity holder for multiple companies (listed here: https://www.karplab.net/team/jeff-karp).
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bioRxiv and medRxiv thank the following for their generous financial support:
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Imperial College London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Washington, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.