UK researchers developing world’s first Covid vaccine patch
Researchers at Swansea University are in the process of developing the world’s first ‘smart vaccine device’, which is able to inject a Covid-19 vaccine as well as measure its effectiveness by monitoring the body’s response.
The patch, which will produce the vaccine through the skin by using thousands of micro-needles, would be capable of monitoring the patient’s inflammatory response to the vaccination through so-called biomarkers in the skin.
Micro-needles are ultra-tiny needles designed to break the skin barrier and deliver medicines in “a minimally invasive manner,” explained project lead Dr Sanjiv Sharma, of Swansea University.
“Measuring vaccine efficacy is extremely important as it indicates the protective effects of vaccination on an individual via the level of reduction of infection risk in a vaccinated person relative to that of a susceptible, unvaccinated individual,” he said.
Same principle as nicotine patch
The research, carried out by the university’s Institute for Innovative Materials, Processing and Numerical Technologies, is largely based on the idea behind existing trans-dermal nicotine patches, which deliver nicotine through the skin to help people give up smoking.
“This measure of vaccination effectiveness will address an unmet clinical need and would provide an innovative approach to vaccine development,” Sharma added.
He stressed that a micro-needle delivery patch is relatively easy to apply and the real-time nature of the platform will mean rapid results allowing faster containment of the Covid-19 virus.
The project, which is funded by the Welsh Government’s Sêr Cymru funding programme, should move to the next stage fairly soon.
“We hope to do human clinical studies on trans-dermal delivery with our existing partners at Imperial College London, in preparation for final implementation,” Sharma concluded.
