Vaxxas is aiming to replace needles and syringes with its nanopatch.
Vaxxas, a Queensland University spin-out, has developed technology which could mean vaccine delivery via needles and syringes could soon be a thing of the past.
The World Economic Forum has now named the company a Technology Pioneer, along with 23 other startups such as the Raspberry Pi Foundation, makers of the eponymous cheap computer. Mark Kendall, inventor of the technology, will present at the forum’s next annual meeting in January 2015.
The nanopatch, based on research at the university’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, is, as the name suggests, a small patch which delivers vaccines painlessly and more efficiently than syringes.
Spun out by UniQuest, the university’s technology transfer office, Vaxxas’s technology consists of thousands of tiny projections which inject the vaccine directly into immune cells in the skin. A needle delivers the vaccine into the muscle, where much fewer immune cells are located.
Mark Kendall, director and chief technical officer at Vaxxas, said: “It has the potential to improve patient convenience, reduce needle-stick injuries and overcome cross-contamination. It is designed for thermostability and may not need refrigeration, potentially making transport much cheaper and easier, particularly in developing nations. Hopefully the technology will result in better access to vaccines in third-world countries, boosting global health. The other companies selected by the World Economic Forum are leading the way in the areas of research, innovation and technology. It is exciting to see Vaxxas recognised alongside them.”
