New US patent for Covid-19 nasal spray as treatment A coronavirus drug developed by Therapeutica Borealis, a pharmaceutical firm in Turku, Finland, has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The nasal spray contains hydroxychloroquine, among other ingredients.
Earlier in May, the company said it had received approval for a patent application, based on which it expected a final patent this month.
“The final patent is an important milestone for us on our way to the market. Our next goal is to find an established pharmaceutical industry company with an international business scale,” says Professor Kalervo Vnnen, one of the three inventors and founders of Therapeutica Borealis, in a press release on Monday. Vnnen is a cell biologist and former rector of the University of Turku.
According to the company, the nasal spray acts on cell function in nasal mucous in three ways, impairing the ability of the virus to penetrate the body and multiply, thus reducing the risk of serious illness.
The firm said that the drug’s active ingredients – aprotinin, hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin – are well-known and widely used drugs, but in this product are used in a new, targeted manner on the upper respiratory mucous membrane.
Another Finnish pharmaceutical company, Rokote Laboratories, has been developing a coronavirus vaccine in nasal spray form, but has struggled to gain financing.
For topical use, as in a nasal spray, the concentrations of the active ingredients throughout the body remain very low but are sufficient locally to prevent the passage and replication of the virus, making the drug safer and more effective, says Therapeutica Borealis.