Vaxxas, a Brisbane, Australia-based company, develops and commercializes needle-free vaccine delivery system. The company is working on boosting the performance of existing vaccines through a novel vaccine delivery technology called Nanopatch.
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Nanopatch™ is a next-generation drug delivery platform that consists of an array of thousands of vaccine-coated microprojections able to perforate the dermal layer to deliver vaccine into the outer layers of the skin.
The tips of Nanopatch’s microprojections are coated with a vaccine material and release this material directly to the large numbers of key immune cells immediately below the skin surface.
“The Nanopatch is designed to deposit vaccine antigens just under the surface of the skin, amongst the dense populations of immune cells. This enables the antigens to be efficiently and effectively trafficked to lymph nodes for processing. In a wide range of animal models we’ve shown that as little as 1/10 – 1/100 of a dose of vaccine delivered this way can produce an immune response equivalent to a full dose by needle/syringe. We’re exploring this effect in humans in current clinical studies. In addition to this, vaccines coated onto the Nanopatch are in a dry format and can be engineered to be stable outside of cold-chain – a huge potential win for developing and emerging markets,” David Hoey, CEO and director of Vaxxas, told MedGadget’s Tom Fowler.
The Vaxxas Nanopatch Jet Coating Instrument, developed in collaboration with Invetech, is an advanced technology platform to support needle-free dermal drug delivery research and product development.
Vaccine delivery using Nanopatch has the potential to offer significant advantages over traditional injections, including needle-free drug delivery, reduced pain, no need for refrigerated supply chain, improved vaccine effectiveness and low cost of manufacture.
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By partnering up with vaccine companies who are seeking novel, cost effective and safe vaccine delivery platform, Vaxxas aims to optimize the Nanopatch delivery system in their respective disease areas of interest.
