Local drugmaker Medigen is partnering with a US biotechnology company to develop a COVID-19 vaccine patch, for which human clinical trials could begin as early as next year, the firm announced on Monday.
Medigen said it has since last year been collaborating with Vaxess Technologies, which is developing a smart-release microneedle patch, to use the technology for COVID-19 vaccination, Medigen said in a statement.
The patch would be based on the Medigen COVID-19 vaccine, which is a protein subunit vaccine containing a recombinant spike protein (S-2P) antigen.
Photo: Taipei Times
Trials on animals have found that vaccination with the microneedle patch was safe and delivered a strong immune response, the drugmaker said, adding that Vaxess is hoping to begin human clinical trials next year.
Vaxess opened a pilot manufacturing plant in Massachusetts last week to produce various products using its smart-release technology, including COVID-19 vaccine patches for clinical trials, Vaxess chief executive officer Michael Schrader said.
Vaxess’ microneedle patch is virtually painless, he said.
The patch only needs to be worn for a few minutes, with the needles continuing to release the medication over days or weeks, he said.
The patch does not require refrigeration, and can be shipped to and applied in low-resource settings, Medigen said.
The patches’ smart-release technology was originally developed at Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Schrader said.
The biotech start-up has raised US$60 million from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the US National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Medigen vaccine has been approved for emergency use in Taiwan and has begun or is applying to start phase 3 clinical trials in other countries.
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