Novel mobile printer creates on-demand, dissolvable vaccine patches
Researchers have created a mobile printer which creates dissolvable, temperature-stable vaccine patches upon demand. The device is not only a great alternative to vaccine injections; it also allows vaccines be delivered in remote areas.
Vaccines are a way to help our bodies produce protective antibodies, which fight infections. The vaccines help protect us from certain diseases. They also reduce the chances that we spread these diseases to others.
However, vaccines are delicate biological substances, and mRNA is no exception. If they’re exposed to temperatures outside the recommended storage range – between 35 °F/2 °C and 46 °F/8 °C – they can become less effective or even destroyed. This means that getting them to remote areas that don’t have the required cold storage, such as in low- and middle-income countries, can be difficult.
Researchers at MIT may have found a solution. They developed a mobile printer which uses dissolvable microneedle patch (MNPs), to deliver vaccines into the skin.
Researchers created microneedle patches with hundreds of tiny needles that are sharp, small and precise enough to deliver vaccines directly to humans. They added a dissolvable stabilizer to a bioink of RNA molecules in lipid-nanoparticles.
Once the patches are printed, a robotic arm injects the bioink into the microneedle molds, and a vacuum sucks the ink to the bottom, ensuring that it is in the needle’s tip. The microneedle tip dissolves under the skin when the patch is placed, releasing vaccines without needing a traditional intramuscular shot. No need to dispose hazardous syringes, needles, or syringes.
Researchers found that by using the dissolvable Polymer, the LNP-encapsulated LNP mRNA remained stable at room temperatures for at least 6 months. The dissolvable, temperature-stable COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccine produced an immune response comparable to that of injected RNA vaccinations when tested on mice.
The study’s findings mean that producing vaccines where and when they’re needed could one day be a reality, say the researchers.
“We could someday have on-demand vaccine production,” said Ana Jaklenec, corresponding author of the study. “If, for example, there was an Ebola outbreak in a particular region, one could ship a few of these printers there and vaccinate people in that location.”
Researchers claim that the printer is small enough to fit on a desktop and can be scaled-up to produce hundreds a day. While this study utilized a COVID-19 vaccine, the researchers plan to expand the device’s use to include other vaccines and other drugs.
“The ink composition was key in stabilizing mRNA vaccines, but the ink can contain various types of vaccines or even drugs, allowing for flexibility and modularity in what can be delivered using this microneedle platform,” Jaklenec said.
The journal published the study Nature Biotechnology.
Source: MIT