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A new partnership between Lancaster University and biomedical firm ViraCorp has been launched to develop a unique nasal COVID-19 vaccine which attacks the virus at its entry point into the body.

The new vaccine is based on the work of Lancaster Molecular Virologist Dr Muhammad Munir, a pioneer of needleless and next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, who has taken on a role of Chief Scientific Officer at ViraCorp in addition to his academic role in the University. It will provide a cost-effective and easily administered alternative to solutions currently on the market. It is hoped the novel delivery system will also have a positive impact on vaccine hesitancy currently hindering global immunity and remove the heavy training and infrastructure requirements for delivering vaccines via intramuscular injections.

The company is set to announce a number of world-leading scientific partner organisations to take the vaccine through trials to production and distribution and intends to target territories where vaccine distribution has been low, supporting the World Health Organisation’s campaign on vaccine equity. 

The company will develop the vaccine under its subsidiary ViraVac. ViraCorp and Lancaster University are already working together on testing a new antiviral and antimicrobial mask which begins killing COVID-19 on contact, and is being produced by sister company ViraCoat. 

Dr Munir said: “With the emergence of new variants and increasing challenges to equitably vaccinating the world, there is a need to develop novel and improved COVID-19 vaccines. Our next-generation dual-antigen carry vaccine offers solutions to several weakness of currently applied vaccines and I am delighted this partnership between ViraCorp and Lancaster University will bring this novel vaccine to market, which I believe will have significant impact in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach communities.