Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh reported in their study published April 1 in EBiomedicine, a Lancet Journal, that their microneedle patch vaccine against the SARS CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 "prompted robust antibody production in the mice within two weeks." The patches resemble a spiky piece of Velcro, with hundreds of tiny microneedles made of sugar. The needles prick just into the skin and quickly dissolve, releasing the vaccine into the tiny abrasions and inducing a potent immune cell response despite the minute amount of the vaccine material – far more potent than an intramuscular injection.
The researchers had been testing vaccine using the microneedle patch for other coronaviruses, including the one that causes Middle East Respiratory System (MERS) and reported that three different experimental MERS vaccines induced the production of antibodies against the virus. These responses were stronger than the responses generated by regular injection of one of the vaccines along with a powerful immune stimulant (an adjuvant). Antibody levels continued to increase over time in mice vaccinated by microneedle patch-up to 55 weeks, when the experiments ended. The researchers have now turned their technology to the COVID-19 virus, SARS CoV-2.
"Testing in patients would typically require at least a year and probably longer," senior co-author of the study, dermatology professor Louis Falo said. "This particular situation is different from anything we’ve ever seen, so we don’t know how long the clinical development process will take. Recently announced revisions to the normal processes suggest we may be able to advance this faster." -Full Report
