CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Vaxxas, a clinical-stage biotechnology company commercializing a novel vaccination platform, have signed a partnership agreement to advance the development of Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine-patch delivery technology in a project that could end the need for frozen storage of mRNA vaccines.
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CEPI will provide up to USD4.3 million (AUD6.4 million) for preclinical testing of Vaxxas' platform—a needle-free, high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) to assess its stability, safety and immunogenicity and to evaluate its potential as a rapid-response technology for heat-stable, dried-formulation mRNA vaccines.
HD-MAPs are made up of thousands of microscopic points attached to a small patch. Each of these micro-projections contains a tiny dose of vaccine in a dried formulation. When applied to the skin, the patch delivers vaccine to the abundant immune cells immediately below the skin surface.
HD-MAP vaccine delivery offers many potential advantages over more traditional ways of administering vaccines. For example, the dried form of the vaccine is more stable at higher temperatures than vaccines in liquid formulations.
Vaxxas’ HD-MAPs have proven safe and tolerable in hundreds of trial participants to date, and have been shown to induce equal or greater immune responses to injected vaccines at lower doses. Compared with needle and syringe systems, they are also much easier to administer and are likely to have greater acceptability.
Ultimately, HD-MAP patches could enable a future in which vaccine patches could be mailed directly to peoples’ homes, workplaces and schools, avoiding the delay and inconvenience of traditional needle-and-syringe vaccine scheduling and administration. ■
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