A nasal spray that stops Covid infections for up to two days could be available in chemists by the summer, a researcher has claimed.
Dr Richard Moakes of the University of Birmingham reckons his team’s formula can help lift Britain out of lockdown and “get schools going again”.
The lead researcher has been in discussions with shops and pharmaceutical giants over mass producing the product they’ve been working on since last April.
It is reportedly made from ingredients that have already passed human safety approval tests – and said to work by capturing the virus in the nose and encapsulating it in a coating which it cannot escape from.
Dr Moakes told the Telegraph : “As an over the shelf product, we have spoken to companies with a presence on the high street as we think they could distribute it effectively.
“Based on the product, it will be much quicker to get to the user than a novel drug.
The research group announced that laboratory experiments showed the spray prevented a coronavirus infection from spreading for up to 48 hours last November.
