Enzymatica's ColdZyme mouth spray can deactivate 98% of COVID-19 virus in 20 minutes: Study

Swedish life science company Enzymatica AB on July 20 released the preliminary results of an in vitro study that demonstrated that its mouth spray ColdZyme deactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, by 98.3 percent.

"The results indicate that ColdZyme can offer a protective barrier against harmful viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 by local virus deactivation in the oral cavity. ColdZyme is mainly composed of glycerol and Atlantic cod trypsin," Enzymatica said.

The study conducted by the US company Microbac Laboratories Inc was aimed at determining the ability of ColdZyme to deactivate SARS-CoV-2. A virucidal efficacy suspension test was conducted using ColdZyme against SARS-CoV-2. ColdZyme is a mouth spray that forms a barrier in the oral cavity against common cold viruses.

"ColdZyme deactivated SARS-CoV-2 by 98.3 percent in 20 minutes. The in vitro study was based on a standardized and validated methodology," the Swedish life science company said.

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"SARS-CoV-2 actively replicates in the throat and shows high viral shedding. ColdZyme sprayed onto the mouth and throat could lower the risk of infection, and decrease the viral load locally. The lowered viral load may decrease viral shedding and thus minimize the spread of SARS-CoV-2," Enzymatica AB said.

According to the company, ColdZyme is also effective on the virus causing the common cold.

"Previous in vitro study conducted with the same method showed that ColdZyme is effective against another coronavirus, HCoV-229E, one of the causes of the common cold. The aggregated results indicate that ColdZyme can be effective against a variety of coronaviruses," the company said in a press release.

Enzymatica’s Chief Operating Officer, Claus Egstrand, said, "Even if the current in vitro results cannot be directly translated into clinical efficacy, it is very interesting that ColdZyme is able to effectively deactivate SARS-CoV-2 in vitro since it constitutes a proof-of-principle that can be taken further into clinical studies. Thus, the results indicate that ColdZyme can offer a protective barrier against SARS-CoV-2."

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