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.