GLOBAL: Vaccines that can take the heat
DAKAR, 18 February 2010 (IRIN): Researchers in the UK have unveiled a new system of storing vaccines without refrigeration that could cut vaccination costs in poor tropical countries, according to Oxford University.
– You could even picture someone with a backpack taking vaccine doses on a bike to remote villages, said Matt Cottingham, lead author of the study.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that maintaining the equipment needed to refrigerate drugs during delivery and storage – the “cold chain” – costs countries up to 200 million US dollar (ca. 1,1 milliard DKR) a year and pushes up the cost of vaccination by 14 percent.
Some vaccines include live viruses that can stimulate the bodys immune response without causing infection. Researchers at Oxford University used sugars to keep viruses in vaccines alive at high temperatures – also known as sugar glassification – for up to one year. The method has been tested over the past decade.
Writing in Science Translational Medicine, they say the breakthrough could significantly help efforts to immunise more children in rural Africa.
The researchers mixed the vaccines with two types of sugar before slowly drying them on a filter paper. This preserved the jabs (doserne), which were then easily reactivated when needed for injection.
The scientists describe how they managed to keep vaccines stable for up to six months at 45 C. They used sucrose and another sugar called trehalose, which is known for its preservative properties.
The research was funded by the foundation set up by Bill and Melinda Gates.
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Drug manufacturers have been slow to adopt existing technologies that could cut delivery costs.
– The drug industry is actually reluctant to explore these technologies for their existing already licensed vaccines, said Michel Zaffran, a senior advisor to Project Optimize, a WHO partnership with the US-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH).
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