A Dutch start-up company based in Amsterdam has raised 40 million euros to develop a nasal spray that will work against COVID-19.

Nasal spray designed to protect user from coronavirus

The spray will be designed to be self-administrable but when released onto the market will likely only be available by prescription. “The nasal spray must be very widely available,” says Koenraad Wiedhaup, who founded Leyden Labs. The spray will provide short-term protection - up to 24 hours or a couple of days at the most - from viruses.

According to Wiedhaup, the sprays could serve a variety of purposes when it comes to day-to-day life, and could be used to protect members of the public from coronavirus when out and about, or attending a specific event. “You can take it if you want to go to a festival, to your grandchildren or even to the office,” says Wiedhaup.

Amsterdam-based Leyden Labs hopes to help prevent future pandemics

Biotech company Leyden Labs wants to develop a spray that “targets commonalities of viral families to protect against many viruses simultaneously,” instead of a treatment that targets only one variant. The spray will serve as a layer of protection that will prevent a virus from being able to enter cells in the throat or nasal cavity.

It is not yet known when Leyden Labs’ spray will be made available, but the company is hoping to work on a product that will “get ahead” of the next virus in an attempt to ensure that any future pandemic won’t have such a paralysing an effect on society and everyday life. Wiedhaup hopes the product will be available “within a few years.”