Microneedle Patch Technology for Polio Immunization Gets Funding
Posted on February 24, 2015
Technology to provide polio immunization through dissolvable microneedle patches has received $2.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The microneedle patches are being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Micron Biomedical.
A Phase 1 clinical trial has been funded by the grant. It will determine whether the patches can be safely and effectively used for polio immunization. The patches are about one square inch (2.54 centimeters) in size. They contain 100 needles the size of a human hair that are filled with the vaccine. The vaccine is based on an inactivated virus. When the patch is pressed into the skin the needles quickly dissolve.
The above image shows a microneedle patch being applied to an arm. The tiny needles will dissolve into the skin along with the vaccine. The developers of the technology say the patches require only minimally-trained personnel, which would make them ideal for remote areas where polio has been difficult to stamp out.
Mark Prausnitz, a Regents Professor in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, says in a statement, "We believe that the microneedle patch has the potential to help complete the polio eradication effort with a simple-to-administer patch that can be used in immunization efforts in all countries."
The researchers say lab studies of microneedle vaccine patches have shown them to be stable during manufacturing. The researchers also plan to develop patch designs that are stable for a long period of time without refrigeration.
Prausnitz also says, "The grant has a clear goal: At the end of the first year, we have to be able to show compelling data that we've made a patch that can do what it needs to do. Georgia Tech will then hand off the patch design to the company for clinical trials on the vaccine's safety and immunogenicity during the second year."