Hopkins students devise rotavirus vaccine on a dissolvable strip

And the youth shall lead them. Undergraduate geniuses at Johns Hopkins University have developed a thin dissolvable strip that can deliver rotavirus vaccine. Used like Listerine PocketPaks, the strips are designed to innoculate young children, who often spit out the popularly used liquid vaccine. That method has other disadvantages as well, because it must be kept cold and so is difficult to transport in poorer regions. The Johns Hopkins solution, however, does not require refrigeration. “Because the strips are in a solid form, they would cost much less to store and transport than the liquid vaccine,” said professor Hai-Quan Mao. “We wanted this to be as simple and as inexpensive as possible.”

The project began with San Jose-based Aridis Pharamaceuticals. The company possessed a rotavirus vaccine stable at room temperature contact, but Mao wanted a product resembling breath strips to deliver it. Mao described the idea to his students, who took to it wiith admirable zeal. Initially, the students confronted several obstacles. They were unable to copy the manufacturing process used to make breath strips because the harsh solvent and high temperatures used would destroy the vaccine. They also had to devise a protective coating that would remain intact when exposed to stomach acid but would dissolve in the chemically neutral environment of the small intestine. The problems were resolved by refining the strip production and drying process and identifying an FDA-approved biocompatible polymer coating that would protect the vaccine from stomach acid but release the medicine in the small intestine. The coating is pH-responsive, meaning it delivers its medical payload only when the acid-alkaline level in its environment is appropriate.