NJBIZ Conversations: Jeffrey Nau

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Imagine how much easier controlling the COVID-19 pandemic would be if public health officials could prevent infections without administering an injected vaccine — if individuals could take medication themselves. Jeffrey Nau is not only imagining it, he and his staff are making it happen.

Nau is the president and CEO of Princeton-based Oyster Point Pharma, which is developing a nasal spray that recent trials have shown could be effective in blocking the virus that causes COVID-19. For this edition of NJBIZ Conversations, Editor Jeff Kanige spoke with Nau about the company, its lead product — a treatment for dry eye disease — and what the anti-COVID nasal spray would mean in the fight against the pandemic.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic we’ve been working on a number of different compounds that would be delivered as nasal sprays to try and reduce transmission,” he said. “We don’t look at this as something that obviates the need for vaccine, but what it does do is reduce transmission, hopefully, in a prophylactic manner. We can stop people from transmitting it to each other, or they can take it if they’re know they’re going to be in a high-risk situation.”

To watch the full interview, click on the image below.