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Nano-Vaccines: 3D Printing Small to Fight Large-Scale Epidemics
Vaccines are a controversial topic today, but there is no doubt they have had a major impact on society by eradicating major diseases in the past. Scientists are continuing to research ways to make vaccines more effective.
North Carolina-based Liquidia Technologies is innovating on the manufacturing of vaccines. By utilizing 3D printing and nano-technology, Liquidia believes they can mass-produce more effective vaccines at a lower cost.
Applying nanoparticle fabrication techniques to vaccine production could dramatically cut their cost per dose. Joseph DeSimone and his spin out Liquidia, presented their nano-production process for vaccines at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in San Diego, US, and hope that their work will improve immunisation rates in the developing world.
DeSimone has done a lot of work on the mass production of nanoparticles using nanolithography – materials are moulded and then transferred to films in a streamlined, reel to reel, process. ‘We say we’re harnessing the power of the precision and uniformity of the microelectronics industry for making vaccines and medicines,’ he explains. And because this is a dry moulding technology, with no concerns about partitioning, DeSimone adds, ‘you can access compositions you couldn’t access before’.
Via RSC.
‘We say we’re harnessing the power of the precision and uniformity of the microelectronics industry for making vaccines and medicines,’ DiSimone explains.
Liquidia now has one vaccine in Phase I clinical trials and several others in development.
The video below provides an overview of Liquidia’s PRINT platform.
Vaccines research lab photo by Novartis AG used under Creative Commons License.
