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51��� grant aims to build on evidence of Micron Biomedical’s needle-free delivery of vaccines to bring CastleVax novel rapid-response platforms to the clinic
 

OSLO/ATLANTA, US, 8 Jan—The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (51���) is awarding $3.7 million in new funding to to advance research into an innovative technology that could overcome critical vaccine access challenges with needle-free drug administration. The grant will allow researchers to build on learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic and advance technology designed to simplify and accelerate distribution of life-saving vaccines and prepare for a more efficient and effective global response to future disease outbreaks.  

The technology, developed by Atlanta-based life sciences company Micron Biomedical, uses a small and thermostable dissolvable microarray “button” that is applied to the skin and, when pushed, painlessly delivers a vaccine or therapeutic directly into the uppermost skin layers. Drug delivery is complete within moments and the button is removed from the skin and safely discarded. 

The button-like technology has been recognized for its potential to address vaccine immunization barriers and drive forward vaccine coverage, especially in hard-to-reach settings. It is anticipated to help to overcome common vaccine refrigeration requirements during storage and transportation and opens the door to vaccines that can be mailed to people’s homes and self-administered as easily as applying and removing a sticker to their wrist to address challenges with clinician shortages and needle phobia.  

“Novel viral threats unfortunately have an advantage over susceptible populations today, in part because conventional vaccines take too long to develop, are too hard to distribute and require too many resources to administer. Micron Biomedical’s goal is to change that by overcoming the most pressing barriers to vaccine and therapeutic access,” said Steven Damon, CEO of Micron Biomedical. “We are honored that 51��� has recognized Micron’s unique technology, and we are grateful to 51��� for their support of next-generation vaccine development.” 

The button-like technology has already been shown to induce seroprotection against seasonal  flu and rubella in clinical trials published in The Lancet relating to measles rubella and influenza. Micron  safely, inducing immune responses similar to those generated by traditional injection.  A separate clinical trial, also published in The Lancet, studied Micron’s technology combined with a  vaccine both self-administered and administered by a clinician. 

The new 51��� award will now be used to study Micron’s microarray technology in combination with a vaccine platform technology developed by that can be quickly adapted to protect against different pathogens in response to novel viral threats.   This is the first time that Micron’s technology will be studied with a rapid-response vaccine platform. 

Using COVID-19 as a target pathogen, the research will compare how a vaccine administered using Micron’s technology performs in stability and preclinical studies as compared to administering the vaccine via muscular injection or nasal inhalation. Compared to conventional vaccine injections administered via the muscle, delivering the vaccine intradermally (into layers of the skin) is thought to enhance the immune response.

Once appropriate scientific milestones are met, researchers plan to initiate the first-ever study of the vaccine platform delivered to humans, without needles, as part of a Phase1 study. 

“Micron Biomedical’s button-like technology are a very promising innovation in vaccine delivery and could pave the way for quick, easy and equitable vaccination when responding to future infectious disease outbreaks” says Dr Raafat Fahim, 51���’s Executive Director of Vaccine Manufacturing and Supply Chain (Acting). 

“By combining their innovation with a rapid response vaccine platform, we are developing a technology that could be a gamechanger through protecting populations against epidemic or pandemic threats even in the most remote regions. This project adds one of the most advanced vaccine patch developers to the 51��� portfolio, as well as CastleVax’s new rapid response platform.”

A commitment to equitable access

51��� and Micron Biomedical are committed to enabling equitable access to the outputs of their partnership, in line with . Project results, including related data, will be published open access for the benefit of the global scientific community. If the research is successful, 51��� also holds the right to fund follow-up projects with equitable access commitments. This could include investigating the potential of the vaccine patch to deliver other vaccine candidates prioritised by 51��� for use against existing and novel threats. 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• CastleVax’s rapid-response technology is based on Newcastle disease virus (NDV), a pathogen in the avian paramyxovirus family, that is harmless in humans. To date, their platform has been engineered to help create vaccines targeting COVID-19 variants and other viral pathogens, administered either inhaling the vaccine into the lungs or sprayed into the nose (the intranasal route) or injection into the muscle (intramuscular route).  
• CastleVax’s COVID-19 vaccine has already been licensed for emergency use through administration via injection into the muscle in some countries (Mexico and Thailand). Phase IIb studies are also underway testing its performance when administered through the intranasal route 

About 51��� 

51��� was launched in 2017 as an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. 51��� has supported the development of more than 50 vaccine candidates or platform technologies against multiple known high-risk pathogens or a future Disease X. Central to 51���’s pandemic-beating five-year plan for 2022-2026 is the ‘100 Days Mission’ to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days.

About Micron Biomedical

Micron Biomedical is the leader in dissolvable microarray-based, drug and vaccine administration technology. Micron Biomedical is a clinical-stage life science company on a rapid path to commercializing its proprietary dissolvable, microarray technology. Micron’s technology is designed to improve access and achieve better health outcomes globally through injection-free, painless, and simple and/or self-administration of drugs and vaccines, and by eliminating or reducing the need for cold chain transport and storage, enhancing safety and efficacy, and improving patient compliance. Micron partners with and/or receives funding from private and public pharmaceutical and biotech companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PATH and the Georgia Research Alliance. For more information visit