Marinomed Biotech AG, a globally operating biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce recently that the Swansea University Medical School plans a clinical trial with Iota-/kappa-carrageenan nasal spray as a COVID-19 Prophylaxis for Healthcare Professionals (ICE-COVID).

The investigator-initiated trial at Swansea will be recruiting 480 healthcare professionals managing COVID-19 patients during the pandemic. Objective of the study is to assess the efficacy of Carragelose nasal and throat spray in reducing the rate, severity, and duration of COVID-19 infections. Further endpoints include infection with other respiratory viruses, usability of the spray for prophylaxis and the effects on quality adjusted life years (QALYs). The ongoing clinical trial is supported by Marinomed Biotech AG, the originator and licensor of Carragelose and Boots UK; the Carragelose nasal spray used in the study is marketed as Boots Dual Defence in the United Kingdom.

The design of the double-blind trial is finalized and planned to start shortly. The study population will be equally randomized into a treatment group (0.12 mg/ml iota-carrageenan / 0.4 mg/ml kappa-carrageenan in 0.5% saline) and a placebo group (0.5 % saline) and will apply this study regime three times a day, one dose into each nostril and three throat sprays, over the course of eight weeks .

“With the world in the devastating grip of this SARS-CoV2 pandemic and nurses and doctors especially exposed, we are looking forward to this very important clinical data from the Swansea trial. Our pivotal clinical data for Carragelose demonstrated alleviation of different coronavirus infections. Marinomed has been able to show neutralizing activity towards the new coronavirus in vitro earlier this year.” said Dr Eva Prieschl-Grassauer, Chief Scientific Officer at Marinomed. Adding, “We have very good reason to expect and hope that the trial will confirm our in vitro findings and contribute to validating Carragelose nasal spray as a COVID-19 prophylaxis for the vulnerable community of healthcare professionals, protecting them from contracting COVID-19 infections.”

“After seeing the effects of this pandemic on colleagues caring for patients with COVID-19, we wanted to find a way for research to help protect frontline NHS staff,” said Dr. Zita Jessop, Principal Investigator for the clinical trial and clinician scientist at Swansea University. “Previous studies highlighted the effectiveness of iota-carrageenan-based nasal sprays against coronaviruses, indicating promise against SARS-CoV-2. If the results of this randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial are positive as we expect, this has the potential to add an extra prevention strategy in the fight against COVID-19,” she added.