New nasal COVID treatment being tested at Brigham and Women's Hospital

New nasal COVID treatment being tested at Brigham & Women's Hospital

BOSTON – Local researchers have some promising news about a new drug that could combat COVID-19 and other inflammatory diseases, and it's given through the nose.

Current monoclonal antibody treatments which are given by IV and target the spike protein of the coronavirus are no longer effective against circulating variants. But researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have tested a different type of monoclonal antibody that is designed to stimulate anti-inflammatory cells in the body and could hopefully work against any coronavirus variant.

They found that when the drug was given intranasally to 39 patients with COVID-19 daily for 10 days, it dampened the inflammatory response to the virus and decreased lung inflammation without significant side effects.

They also found that the drug might be helpful in multiple sclerosis, by reducing brain inflammation.

The team now plans to conduct larger trials in patients with long COVID, MS, and other conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

Twitter Facebook