Booster Shots Might Not Be Enough to Beat Omicron, According to Some Nanotech Experts

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As the threat of a more rapidly spreading COVID variant Omicron casts uncertainty across global markets once again, scientists and pharmaceutical developers are working to bolster defenses and prepare for another wave of infections.

While vaccines reportedly remain the best tool available right now, industry leaders like Nanotech Plus LLC and NanoViricides Inc. NNVC are urging researchers to look beyond vaccines toward a multipronged defense that includes improved testing to track the spread and more effective antivirals to better treat those who are infected. 

What’s Known About Omicron so Far

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), preliminary evidence suggests that the new variant may spread more aggressively than others and may even be able to infect people who’ve been vaccinated or who’ve already had COVID-19. Recent reports are stating that the first-hit areas (such as New York)  may be cresting, however, the number of hospitalizations have reached some of the highest numbers since the start of the pandemic. 

As researchers continue investigations to learn more about Omicron, industry leaders are urging nations to roll out vaccine boosters. In a press release last month, pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc. PFE and BioNTech SE BNTX stated that a new vaccine tailored to the omicron variant will be ready by March and said early clinical data suggest a third dose of the existing vaccine could neutralize the Omicron variant.

Nanotech Plus Founder Sam Brauer isn’t so optimistic. 

“If the Omicron variant is indeed more infectious than the Delta variant and is now becoming prevalent when people are spending more time indoors, I suspect that the vaccine availability in March will be akin to locking the barn after the horse has bolted,” Brauer said.

Brauer, a nanotech consultant with a doctorate in bioinorganic chemistry, believes more than just vaccines are necessary to neutralize COVID-19 and its variants. 

“The reduced efficacy of the vaccines really drives home the need for more frequent testing and more antivirals to treat infected individuals,” he said.

NanoViricides, a nanotherapeutic company, has reported it is focusing on developing a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that can remain effective, even after a virus mutates.

The platform would be the antiviral equivalent of a broad-spectrum antibiotic that can take out bacteria, regardless of strains or subtypes. This is because its mechanism of action targets a part of the virus that doesn’t change when the virus mutates.

Because the virus’s target in humans doesn’t change, the virus always tries to get into the cell in the same way, Nanoviricides drug should work regardless of the mutations of the virus. Once the virus binds to the drug instead of the human cell, then the drug engulfs the virus particle, blocks it, and prevents it from reproducing and spreading. The trapped virus is effectively neutralized as a result.

Because the binding site the drug attaches to is the same across strains and subtypes, the platform might have the potential to be tailored to a wide range of viruses, like COVID-19 and all of its variants.

Early preclinical data studying the platform’s potential to treat COVID-19 has yielded positive results, against many different coronaviruses, indicating that variants should not be an issue.  NanoViricides has also completed pre-clinical safety toxicology studies and is optimistic that clinical findings will confirm the strong antiviral activity of its broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drug.

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