Right now, protection against covid – 19 is obtained through an injection. But in the future, the inoculations could come from inhalers or even pills.
In an airy white laboratory in Medicon Village, one of the largest science parks in southern Sweden, chemistry Ingemo Andersson holds a thin plastic inhaler, the size of half a matchbox.
His team hopes that this small product can play an important role in the global fight against coronavirus. , by allowing people to take powdered versions of future vaccines at home.
“It’s easy and very cheap to produce,” says Johan Waborg, CEO of the company, which generally makes inhalers for asthma patients.
“You just remove a small plastic slip and then activate the vaccine inhaler and put it in your mouth, take a deep breath and inhale.”
The company, Iconovo, is collaborating with an immunology research company in Stockholm, ISR, which has developed a dry powder vaccine against covid – 19.
Uses covid virus proteins- 19 manufactured (unlike Pfizer, Moderna and Astra Zeneca, which use RNA or DNA encoding these proteins) and can withstand temperatures up to 40 ° C.
That’s a stark contrast to the conditions needed to store current coronavirus vaccines that are commonly available and approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), which are all in liquid form.
They should be kept in glass vials resistant to temperatures as low as – ° C, at before transferring them to refrigerators, or they lose effectiveness, which is known as the “cold chain”.
“The game changer is that the vaccine can be distributed very easily without the cold chain, and it can be administered without the need for healthcare providers, ”says ISR founder Ola Winquist, professor of immunology at the Karolinska Institute, one of Sweden’s leading medical universities.
Freeze-dried foods
The company is currently testing their vaccines in the beta (South Africa) and alpha (UK) variants of covid – .
Think it might turn out especially useful for speeding up vaccine launches in Africa, where there are currently no local vaccine manufacturers.
And warmer climates and limited electricity supplies have created big challenges when it comes to storing and delivering covid vaccines – 19 before they expire.
There is still a way to go before that the trials show the potential of the ISR air-dried vaccine, including whether it is capable of offering the same level of protection as the current list of WHO-approved vaccines .
So far, it has only been tested in mice, although ISR and Iconovo have raised enough funds to begin human studies in the next two months.
But there is already optimism within the medical community because if powder vaccines like successful, could revolutionize the global response to the pandemic of coronavirus, in addition to facilitating the storage and distribution of vaccines for other diseases.
“It would really open up opportunities for hard-to-reach areas and maybe it would prevent us from having people loading coolers on bicycles and camels.” , says Stefan Swartling Peterson, UNICEF’s head of global health at 2016 to 2020, now professor of global transformation for health at Karolinska.
Compare the potential impact with that of freeze-dried foods, which have proven to be “great for going to all kinds of weird places that are out of the reach of electricity ”, either to be used by medical personnel or simply for adventurous campers.
As companies around the world are researching powdered vaccines, Swartling Peterson is pointing to another startup with “promising technology”, just 10 minutes walk from Iconovo.
Ziccum is testing a technology designed to air dry existing or future liquid vaccines of a in a way that does not limit their effectiveness.
This could facilitate the establishment of so-called “fill and finish” facilities in developing countries, allowing them to complete the final stages of vaccine production in their own territory.
The vaccine powder would be mixed with a sterile water solution just before immunization and then injected using vials and needles.
However, the technology “opens up to various other types of administration,” from nasal sprays to pills , says its CEO, Göran Conradsson.
“It takes a lot of research and development for that. But in principle, yes. ”
Alternative “Greener”
Janssen, which makes the single-dose covid vaccine, which has been approved for use in the UK by the regulator of drugs last month, is already working on a pilot project designed to test Ziccum’s air-drying capabilities.
The pharmaceutical giant has not said whether the project is related to coronavirus or other infectious diseases, but a spokesperson indicated that the research was part of an in-depth approach to “explore novel technology that has the potential to facilitate distribution, management and compliance “Of future vaccines.
Powdered technologies could also help those who fear needles and offer a” greener “alternative to liquid vaccines, by reduce the electricity needed to power the fridges and freezers that are normally used They are used to store vaccine vials.
And could help global vaccine coverage.
“ No one is safe until everyone is safe ,” says Conradsson. “You never know what will happen if you (still) have the coronavirus circulating in some part of the world.”
“We have to be able to bring vaccines to populations in all settings to tackling epidemics and pandemics globally, ”agrees Ingrid Kromann, spokesperson for the Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness (Cepi), a global non-profit organization that works to accelerate vaccine development.
She is cautious and says that the powdered vaccines are still in a early stage of development and that “there is still a lot of work to be done”, for example, to optimize and expand the manufacturing process.
“But if it is successful, it could contribute to better access to vaccines, less waste and lower costs of vaccination programs.”
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