Pharmacy Daily | Vaccine patches?

THE efficacy of vaccines could be enhanced if they were ‘delivered into the [antigen-presenting cells in the] narrow layer just beneath the skin surface’, according to the latest research published in Plos ONE. The researchers looked into vaccine delivery methods other than injection, and came up with a Nanopatch; a skin adhesive around the size of a ten cent coin that delivers vaccine through the skin. Trials of the patches found that whilst using100 times less vaccine, Nanopatches produced comparative rates of protective immune response and did not require other immune stimulants or multiple doses. It is now hoped that the results of the trial will result in mass production of the Nanopatch, which researchers say could spell an end to the high costs associated with providing vaccines to developing nations. They could also lead to the abliity for people to self-administer a range of vaccines which could even be dispatched by mail.

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