The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday that it will provide up to $500 million to evaluate nasal spray or oral vaccines to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 in mid-stage trials.
This funding is part of the "NextGen" initiative, led by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), with a total of $5 billion aimed at advancing the development of new innovative vaccines and treatments to provide broader and longer-lasting protection against COVID-19 infection.
BARDA, under HHS, assists companies in developing medical products to counter public health threats.
The project will provide up to $453 million to Vaxart to evaluate its oral COVID-19 vaccine study. The company's stock doubled to $1.78 in late trading.
Simultaneously, the project will also allocate approximately $34 million and $40 million to private companies Castlevax and Cyanvac, respectively, for the development of their nasal vaccine candidates.
Each trial will recruit 10,000 volunteers and will study the vaccines' efficacy and safety compared to vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
HHS noted, "The currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are administered via intramuscular injection. While highly effective, they have limitations in inducing robust immune responses in mucosal areas such as the mouth, nose, and gut, which are the initial entry points for the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
