‘Tubberware’ for Proteins Can Extend Vaccine Shelf Life

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Artistic rendering of the gels encapsulating a viral vaccine. Credit: ETH Zurich/Jonathan Zawada

Key Points:

  • A new hydrogel-based platform can increase the thermal stability of vaccines.
  • The new packaging allows the cold chain temperature to go from the current 2 to 8 °C range to 25 to 65°C.
  • New biotechnologies and cost savings are a step in the right direction, but there are still tremendous logistical, political, and socio-economic challenges in resolving the global issues surrounding equitable vaccine distribution and vaccine hesitancy.

As we learned in the early vaccination days of COVID-19, maintaining a constant temperature for vaccines along the entirety of the cold supply chain is a challenging feat—especially in developing regions with limited infrastructure and resources.

Addressing this need that will likely only increase, a research team from ETH Zurich and Colorado-based Nanoly Bioscience developed a safe, versatile platform to increase the thermal stability of vaccines.

The platform is based on a new type of hydrogel devised from a biocompatible, synthetic polymer known as “PEG,” which serves as a protective layer for complex molecules, such as the proteins found in vaccines, antibodies or gene therapies.

The researchers say the packaging works “like a molecular Tupperware,” encapsulating the proteins and keeping them separated. It enables the proteins to withstand a higher range of temperature fluctuations. Instead of the traditional +2 to +8°C range for the cold chain, encapsulation allows for a range of 25 to 65°C. Most importantly, the encapsulated cargo is simply released by adding a sugar solution, enabling easy on-demand recovery of the vaccines at their point of use.

While there is a long way to go in terms of research, safety studies and clinical trials before the hydrogels can be implemented for vaccine distribution, the potential effect it could have on reducing costs and health risks associated with the cold chain is enormous. For example, in 2020, the overall market for cold chain services was $17.2 billion and forecasted to rise. Rising costs pose potentially dire consequences for public health and public trust.

“Even a small relief of the economic factors associated with the distribution of vaccines, medicines, and biomedical research could result in larger impacts down the road,” explain the researchers, including Bruno Marco-Dufort and Mark Tibbitt.

In the immediate future, the new platform can be used to transport heat-sensitive enzymes—commonly used in cancer research—or protein molecules for research in lab settings.

 

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