Vaccine Patch
Our Vaccine Patch is a new and needle free delivery technology which can be used to:
- Enhance the effect of injected vaccines: Vaccine Enhancement Patch (VE Patch)
- Develop new vaccines which require transcutaneous administration because the antigen can not be delivered safety through other routes of administration: Vaccine Patch
The patch technology opens up a new way of vaccine delivery that is easier to administer, faster to deliver and can result in lower or fewer doses.
Product characteristics
The patch can boost cellular immunity to a diverse range of antigens and stimulates both B-cell and T-cell responses. It contains the heat labile enterotoxin from E. coli (LT), one of the most potent stimulators of the immune system.
When the patch is applied on the skin, immune stimulants are delivered at the surface of the skin to the Langerhans cells, a major component of the immune systems. The Langerhans cells, activated by the presence of these immune stimulants, take the vaccine antigen and migrate to the regional draining lymph nodes. There, presentation to the immune system occurs, eliciting a robust immune response.
A novel technology with strong advantages
Compared with standard immunization via needles, our patch technology has significant benefits. It is easily administered, the antigen and adjuvant are directly delivered to the immune system through natural defence pathway, which makes vaccination efficient and result in less side effects. The patch has shown excellent local tolerability, it is stable in room temperature and strong immune stimulants can be used since there is no systemic exposure.
Excellent efficacy and safety in humans
The patch has demonstrated excellent efficiency and safety in more than 35 clinical trials. When a VE Patch was combined with an injected seasonal Influenza vaccine in elderly adults an enhanced immune response was noted. That trial demonstrated a seroconversion level similar to those seen in healthy young adults.
Also, when used in a combination with an injected pandemic Influenza vaccine (H5N1), the VE Patch enhanced the immune response to the vaccine after only a single dose, resulting in a seroconversion rate of 70 percent, meeting the FDA and EMEA standard for approval of a pandemic Influenza vaccine. The development of a pandemic Influenza vaccine patch has been funded in part by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
A broad application also used in collaboration with partners
The Vaccine Patch is used in the development of a novel Travelers’ Diarrhea vaccine patch (Phase III) and the Vaccine Enhancement Patch in the development of a pandemic Influenza vaccine patch. In 2009 Intercell and GSK formed a strategic alliance to develop and commercialize the needle-free patch-based vaccines.
Film
- Find out how vaccination with the patch works:
Patch Movie (2:38 minutes)