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An Israeli-made nasal spray appears to have helped reduce the rate of COVID-19 infection among ultra-Orthodox members of a Bnei Brak synagogue amid Rosh Hashanah festivities last year, a new one showed. trial.
Of 83 devotees who used the spray as directed before Rosh Hashanah prayers and for the next two weeks, only two contracted the highly contagious virus, during a real-world test of the substance designed to create a layer of protective gel on the nasal mucosa. to prevent viruses from infecting nasal cells. The study was conducted by the makers of the Taffix spray, Nasus Pharma, with scientists from the University of Haifa, the University of Virginia and the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. The full study was originally published in November 2020, with an updated version released last month.
According to the study, Nasus Pharma approached a mid-sized synagogue community of around 250 members in Bnei Brak ahead of Rosh Hashanah in September 2020 to assess their interest in participating in the trial involving the spray, which was touted as a extra layer of protection. . Each member was entitled to collect a bottle of Taffix from the synagogue on the eve of Rosh Hashanah prayers and was given 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. Since Rosh Hashanah is characterized by mass prayers in synagogues and family events, there were concerns about Jewish high holiday events as potential outbreaks of post-mass rallying, especially in ultra-Orthodox communities. . Before the mid-September vacation, Bnei Brak’s positivity rates for COVID-19 were 17.6%, rising to 28.1% two weeks later, according to the study.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews are pictured praying at a divided synagogue with plastic sheeting in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, amid measures put in place to stem the spread of Covid-19 on September 7, 2020 (Menahem Kahana / AFP)
“It’s a community with different priorities and values,” Nasus Pharma CEO Dr Dalia Megiddo told The Times on Friday. “Although the government tried to explain and recruit opinion leaders, it was very clear that they were going to go to the synagogue no matter what. So we were like, ‘OK, this is going to be a super-spreader event.’ ”
At the end of the two-week trial, 81 of 83 synagogue members who used the spray as directed – every five hours whenever they left their residences for the next 14 days – had not contracted the virus. The two who were infected rarely used the spray, and other members of the community did not use Taffix at all.
“These important results are consistent with previous in vitro studies performed with Taffix ™ which have proven its robust activity against the transmission of SARS-CoV-2,” Dr. Megiddo said in an announcement in October. “This is the first real clinical data showing that the use of Taffix is very effective, even in the worst case of a super spread event in the heart of the worst affected city in Israel.
In previous laboratory studies with Taffix, the spray was found to be 99% effective in preventing viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, from infecting human cells, Nasus Pharma reported. The spray has been approved for use in Israel since last July and has a CE mark for use in Europe.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews during morning prayers at a synagogue during a three-week nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in Bnei Brak, September 21, 2020 (AP Photo / Oded Balilty)
Professor Yaakov Naparstek, scientific director of the Meuhedet HMO Research Institute and physician at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, co-author of the study, said that “the fact that Taffix was able to significantly reduce the rate of infection among users of the product is very encouraging. ”
“It can provide an extra layer of protection for people who are facing events with a high risk of infection. The data contribute to our knowledge of the effect on the protection of the population, ”he continued, adding that further controlled clinical studies will be needed to determine the specific efficacy in different circumstances.
“Given Taffix’s excellent safety profile and statistically significant efficacy in preventing infection following what is defined as a high-risk infection event – it appears that this additional layer of protection could Dramatically reduce the risk of infection and allow people to resume part of their daily routine more safely, ”the authors wrote.
According to the product’s makers, Nasus Pharma, Israeli-made Taffix nasal spray reduced the risk of infection by 99% in laboratory studies. (Screenshot)
Nasus Pharma is a private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2019. Based in Tel Aviv, the company claims that it is developing a number of intranasal products to help patients in several acute emergency situations such as overdose of opioids and anaphylactic shock.
In addition to Taffix, Nasus Pharma’s products include intranasal naloxone, currently in phase II trial, and intranasal epinephrine, currently in phase II, as well as a number of preclinical products.
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