A cheap and simple way of making vaccines that remain stable even at tropical temperatures has been shown to work by scientists at Oxford University. The technology, developed by Nova Bio-Pharma Technologies, removes the need for refrigerators freezers and associated health infrastructure. It has the potential to significantly advance vaccination efforts in the developing world where infectious diseases kill millions of people every year.

 

Preparing vaccines that do not need refrigeration has been identified as one of the major unsolved problems in global health. 

 

“Currently vaccines need to be stored in a fridge or freezer. That means you need a clinic with a nurse, a fridge and an electricity supply, and refrigeration lorries for distribution,” says Matt Cottingham of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study. “If you could ship vaccines at normal temperatures, you would greatly reduce cost and hugely improve access to vaccines. You could even picture someone with a backpack taking vaccine doses on a bike into remote villages.”

 

Oxford University carried out the proof-of-concept study on Nova's patented Hypodermic Rehydration Injection System or HydRIS, which creates thermally stable, instantly injectable formats. The results are being published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

 

The researchers showed it was possible to store two different virus-based vaccines on sugar-stabilized membranes for four to six months at 113 degrees (45 degrees Celsius) without any degradation. The vaccines could be kept for a year and more at 98.6 degrees (37 degrees Celsius) with only tiny losses in the amount of viral vaccine re-obtained from the membrane. When needed, the membrane is attached to a conventional syringe and flushed with liquid, with the re-dissolved product quickly and simply injected.

 

In the developed world, maintaining the cold chain is estimated to cost up to $200 million a year and increases the cost of vaccination by as much as 20 percent, according to the World Health Organization. In the developing world, that infrastructure can be missing or incomplete and presents a great barrier to effective vaccination schemes.