Researchers find microinjection efficient at delivering anthrax vaccine
Compared with intramuscular delivery, microneedles are just as effective but require less vaccine; results an important step forward in developing and maintaining a working stockpile
While DHS (not to mention Vaxgen) struggles to get its new anthrax vaccine off the ground, a group of researchers from Maryland and North Carolina claim that microinjection may be the most efficient vaccine delivery method. Writing in the journal Infection and Immunity, the Terrapin-Tar Heel team reported that, as opposed to the intramuscular injection approach normally used, microinjection produced an equally effective immune response at smaller dosages. Rabbits that were administered the vaccine using the microneedle-based technique showed 100 percent protection against inhalation anthrax, while those vaccinated using conventional methods were protected 71 percent. Groups receiving lower dosages of the vaccine displayed partial protection regardless of vaccination technique.
If borne out in humans, this could be a major step forward, as the government has struggled to create viable stockpiles. “Our results suggest that [microneedle] delivery induces a level of protection against inhalation anthrax in a rabbit model that is comparable to that achieved via [intramuscular] injection using conventional needle and syringe technology,” researchers said. “The use of minimally invasive, easy-to-use delivery devices such as the microneedle-based system described herein could potentially reduce the burden on highly skilled medical practitioners for biodefense vaccination.
-read more in this university news release
