Tag Archives: Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

AUD$15M for nano vaccine patch

AUD $15M has been invested in Vaxxas Pty Ltd making it one of Australia’s largest investments in a start-up biotechnology company.  The investment will allow Professor Mark Kendall at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology to bring his Nanopatch to market (Kendall’s work has been previously mentioned in my July 26, 2011 posting and my October 29, 2010 posting.)

From the University of Queensland, August 1, 2011 news release,

The Nanopatch has thousands of small projections designed to deliver the vaccine to abundant immune cells in the skin, whereas the traditional syringe hits the muscle where there are few immune cells.

Early stage testing in animals so far has shown a Nanopatch-delivered flu vaccine is effective with only 1/150th of the dose compared to a syringe and the adjuvants currently required to boost the immunogenicity of vaccines may not be needed. [emphases mine]

I find the notion that only 1/150th of a standard syringe dosage can be effective quite extraordinary. I wonder if this will hold true in human clinical trials.

There are many advantages to the nanopatch including the elimination of needle stick injuries, cross contamination, and the need for refrigerating vaccines. From the August 2, 2011 news item in The Times of India,

Prof Kendall says that’s one of the most exciting things about the new technology because it will dramatically cut costs and make transportation easier.

“In Africa about half of vaccines aren’t working properly because of a breakdown in the cold chain,” he said in a statement.

“The Nanopatch also offers a way to stop needle-stick injuries during vaccination which again is a particularly important problem in Africa; with a third of vaccines affected by other complications brought about through cross contamination needle stick injury,” he added.

Kendall’s work has attracted international attention. From the University of Queensland news release,

The investment is led by OneVentures, with co-investors Brandon Capital, the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) and US-based HealthCare Ventures.

OneVentures General Partner Dr Paul Kelly said the significance of the million investment was not just in its size.

“This investment syndicate includes both local and international investors, which is a real vote of confidence in the Nanopatch approach and an appreciation of the potential of the technology to revolutionise vaccine delivery worldwide,” Dr Kelly said.


The million investment was negotiated by UniQuest Pty Limited, The University of Queensland’s main commercialisation company. UniQuest has led the commercialisation of the Nanopatch technology to date, and will hand over the responsibility to Vaxxas following this investment.

I’m looking forward to the day when being ‘jabbed by a needle’ is no longer necessary for anyone.

 

Nano vaccine patch on the way to commercialization?

Professor Mark Kendall, the Australian scientist heading up the team that’s working on a nanopatch for vaccines without needles, and his team have just won the 2010 Translational Research Excellence Commercialisation Award. From the news item on Nanowerk,

As a consequence of winning the 2010 Translational Research Excellence Commercialisation Award, Professor Kendall will meet senior executives from global pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp and Dohme in the US.

“This is important, as it is a step towards partnering our Nanopatch with one of the world’s leading vaccine companies,” he [Mark Kendall] said.

“Our ambition is for Nanopatch to be taken from the current stage of animal model success through the clinical trials, and on to the market as a next-generation vaccine delivery device, potentially displacing the needle and syringe.

“This progression requires commercialisation and partnership with the right players. This award is an important step along this pathway.”

Nanopatch has been shown in trials to provide a protective immunisation in mice, with less than a hundredth of the dosage used compared to needle and syringe.

A part of the appeal of the Nanopatch is that it is painless, needle-free and is a potential solution for those with needle phobia.

Because the vaccine is formulated in dry form, it is also thermostable, removing the need for refrigeration.

Nanopatch is smaller than a postage stamp and is dissolvable, eliminating the possibility of needle-stick injury.

Congratulations, again. (The nanopatch was last mentioned here in my July 26, 2010 posting.)

A dissolving nanopatch that delivers vaccines without needles

I briefly noted the ‘nanopatch’ last year in an April 22, 2009 posting,

Scientists in Australia are developing a ‘nanopatch’ which would replace the use of needles for vaccinations.

It looks like those Australian scientists have gotten a step closer. According to a news item on Nanowerk,

“What we have been able to show for the first time is that the Nanopatch is completely dissolvable,” Professor [Mark] Kendall {Project Leader, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology] said.

“That means zero needles, zero sharps, zero opportunity for contamination and zero chance of needle-stick injury.

“The World Health Organisation estimates that 30 percent of vaccinations in Africa are unsafe due to cross contamination caused by needle-stick injury. That’s a healthcare burden of about $25 per administration.”

The Nanopatch is smaller than a postage stamp and is packed with thousands of tiny projections – invisible to the human eye – now dried to include the vaccine itself together with biocompatible excipients.

Research published in journal PLos One [Public Library of Science] in April found that the Nanopatch achieved a protective immune response using an unprecedented one-hundredth of the standard needle and syringe dose.

Professor Kendall said this was 10 times better than any other delivery method.

Congratulations to Professor Kendall and his team.