Nanopatch Vaccine Will Help WHO Fight Polio

World Health Organisation’s (WHO) battle against polio has a new weapon after joining up with Vaxxas, the biotechnology company responsible for developing revolutionary vaccine delivery method the Nanopatch.
WHO will undertake a research collaboration with Vaxxas, a company that spun out from The University of Queensland.
The collaboration will evaluate the Nanopatch as a platform for delivering a polio vaccine and WHO may subsequently elect to fund clinical demonstrations.
Invented at UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) by Professor Mark Kendall, the Nanopatch aims to replace traditional needle and syringe vaccine delivery methods with a small patch which features thousands of small projections which deliver the vaccine painlessly to the skin. You can read more about it on our website here.
Professor Kendall, also the Vaxas Founder and Chief Technology officer, said the university is delighted to be collaborating with WHO to potentially deliver the Nanopatch to those who need it the most.
“This project helps realise key advantages of the Nanopatch over the needle and syringe.  While the traditional needle and syringe delivers the vaccine to the muscle, the Nanopatch targets the abundant immune cells under the skin, increasing its effectiveness," he said.
“Furthermore, the Nanopatch doesn’t need to be kept refrigerated to maintain its efficacy. These advantages – together with a simple, needle-free administration – open a way to effective transportation and application of polio vaccine in the remote regions of the world where eradication efforts are most challenging.”
Phases of this project will be conducted within Professor Kendall’s UQ research group with project drivers including postdoctoral research fellow Dr David Muller.
Following clinical development, Vaxxas would have the opportunity to supply Nanopatches in support of WHO’s global polio eradication efforts