A nasal spray manufactured by Israelis has apparently contributed to a lower COVID-19 infection rate among ultra-Orthodox members of a synagogue in Bnei Brak amid Rosh Hashanah festivities last year, a new trial has shown.
Of 83 worshipers who used the spray as prescribed before the Rosh Hashanah prayers and for the next two weeks, only two contracted the highly contagious virus in an actual test of the substance designed to provide a protective gel layer over the nasal mucosa. to create. to block viruses from infecting the nasal cells. The study was conducted by manufacturers of the Taffix syringe, Nasus Pharma, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Haifa, the University of Virginia and the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. The full study was initially published in November 2020, with an updated version posted last month.
According to the study, Nasus Pharma approached a medium-sized synagogue community of about 250 members in Bnei Brak before Rosh Hashanah in September 2020 to determine their interest in the experiment with the spray, which is considered an extra layer of protection. . Each member was able to pick up a bottle of Taffix at the synagogue a day before Rosh Hashana prayers and received written instructions on the proper use of the spray.
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At the time, Israel was a world leader in the number of new COVID-19 cases per million citizens, and the infection rate among ultra-Orthodox communities was double that of the general population. As Rosh Hashanah is characterized by mass prayers in synagogues and family events, there have been concerns about Jewish events during high holidays as possible outbreaks after the masses, especially in ultra-Orthodox communities. Before the holiday in mid-September, Bnei Brak’s positivity rates for COVID-19 were 17.6%, rising to 28.1% two weeks later, the study showed.
The photo of ultra-Orthodox Jews is being prayed for in a synagogue divided with plastic sheets in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, amid measures to stem the spread of Covid-19 on September 7, 2020. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)
“It’s a community with different priorities and values,” said Dr. Dalia Megiddo, CEO of Nasus Pharma, told The Times on Friday. ‘Although the government tried to explain and solicit opinion leaders, it was very clear that they were going to the synagogue, whatever they wanted. That’s why we said, ‘OK, this is going to be a super-distributor event.’ ‘
At the end of the two-week trial, 81 of the 83 members of the synagogue who used the spray as instructed – every five hours when leaving their homes for the next 14 days – did not contract the virus. The two who did become infected rarely used the spray, and the remaining members of the community did not use Taffix at all.
“These significant results are consistent with previous in vitro studies performed with Taffix,, which have been shown to be potent against the transmission of SARS-CoV-2,” said Dr. Megiddo said in an announcement in October. “This is the first clinical data showing that the use of Taffix is very effective, even in the worst case of an extremely widespread event in the heart of the city that has been hit the hardest in Israel.”
Previous laboratory studies with Taffix have shown that the spray is 99% effective in blocking viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, from infecting human cells, Nasus Pharma has indicated. The spray has been approved in Israel since July last year and has a CE mark for use in Europe.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews during morning prayer in a synagogue during a nationwide three-week lock-up to limit the spread of the coronavirus in Bnei Brak, September 21, 2020. (AP Photo / Oded Balilty)
Professor Yaakov Naparstek, the scientific director of the Meuhedet HMO Research Institute and a physician at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, who co-authored the study, said that ‘the fact that Taffix was able to reduce the infection rate in users of significantly lower the product, encouraging. ”
‘It can provide an additional layer of protection for people who experience events that pose a high risk of infection. The data contributes to our knowledge of the impact on population protection, ”he added, adding that additional controlled clinical trials would be needed to determine specific efficacy in different circumstances.
‘Given the excellent safety profile of Taffix and its statistically significant efficacy in preventing infection following what is defined as a high-risk infection event, it appears that this additional layer of protection can significantly reduce the risks of infection and enable people to to resume a part safer from their daily routine, ”the authors wrote.
According to the manufacturers of the product, Nasus Pharma, according to the Israeli nasal spray Taffix, the risk of infection is reduced by 99 percent. (Screenshot)
Nasus Pharma is a private biopharmaceutical company in clinical stage established in 2019. The Tel Aviv-based company is developing a number of intranasal products aimed at assisting patients in various acute emergencies such as opioid overdose and anaphylactic shock.
In addition to Taffix, Nasus Pharma’s products include Intranasal Naloxone, which is on its way to a Phase II trial, and Intranasal Epinephrine, currently in Phase II, as well as a number of preclinical products.
