Vaxess Technologies Receives Grants Totaling $6 Million to Develop Microneedle Vaccines for Polio, Measles, Rubella
Boston, Massachusetts, March 6, 2017 (Newswire.com) - Vaxess Technologies, Inc., an innovative life sciences company developing novel vaccine stabilization and delivery technologies, received two grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the development of inactivated polio (IPV) and live attenuated measles rubella (MR) vaccines using the company’s MIMIX™ sustained-release microneedle patch platform.
“Vaxess has teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop an innovative technology that will contribute to eradication of polio and prevention of measles and rubella by increasing vaccine access,” said Vaxess Vice President Livio Valenti. “Products developed with our MIMIX™ sustained-release vaccine delivery system will have increased product efficacy and will not require refrigeration, facilitating vaccination in resource-poor settings.”
"Vaxess has teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop an innovative technology that will contribute to eradication of polio and prevention of measles and rubella by increasing vaccine access."
Livio Valenti, VP of Policy & Strategy
MIMIX™ is Vaxess’s proprietary technology platform for sustained transdermal delivery of vaccines and immunotherapies. Products made with MIMIX™ technology can be administered using a resorbable patch that delivers the vaccine by application to the skin as opposed to the traditional needle-and-syringe approach. By engineering biopolymer microneedles to encapsulate antigens for transdermal administration and controlled release, the goal of MIMIX™ is to enable vaccine products with greater efficacy, simplified dosing and administration, and enhanced stability under ambient or harsh environmental conditions.
The first grant from the Gates Foundation of roughly $3 million represents Phase I of a multi-stage Grand Challenges grant to support the development of Vaxess’s innovative technologies for the manufacture of microneedle patch vaccines. In this phase, the grant will support Vaxess’s preclinical development and manufacture of a thermostable IPV microneedle patch with the aim of lowering barriers to vaccine access by simplifying dosing and administration, alleviating cold chain constraints, and lowering costs.
“The use of the MIMIX sustained-release microneedle patch to combine doses and simplify administration has the potential to streamline global eradication efforts,” said Vaxess CEO Michael Schrader. “Vaxess is honored to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance these life-saving products to market.”
The second grant of roughly $3 million will support the preclinical development of a resorbable microneedle patch for delivery of live attenuated MR vaccine. Under the grant objectives, Vaxess will develop a thermostable MR vaccine formulation, fabricate microneedle patches incorporating the stable formulation, and establish preclinical proof-of-concept in appropriate animal models to support clinical trials in a later stage of development.
"Vaxess's MIMIX platform, enabled by the unique properties of silk-derived biopolymers, offers tunable dermal delivery of antigens to optimize immune response and improve product profiles,” said Vaxess Vice President of R&D Kathryn Kosuda, PhD. “With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are excited to demonstrate the flexibility and power of this platform to advance IPV and MR vaccines."
About Vaxess Technologies
Vaxess Technologies, Inc, is a life sciences company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Vaxess is commercializing the MIMIX™ microneedle platform for sustained transdermal delivery of vaccines and therapies and the MATRIX formulation and drying platform for the development of thermostable vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic products.
For more information please visit Vaxess’s website at www.vaxess.com or send additional inquiries to contact@vaxess.com.
Source: Vaxess Technologies, Inc.