In the United States created a patch for COVID-19: it can be more effective than vaccination

A patch has been created in the United States that can replace vaccination against COVID-19, and in the future, against other diseases, reports "New time".

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Scientists at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina 3D printed a vaccine patch that was more effective than a shot.

According to a study in animals, the resulting immune response from the vaccine in the patch was 10 times stronger than the vaccine injected into the muscle with a needle prick.

Scientists have presented microneedles printed on a 3D printer, which are lined up on a polymer patch. Their length pierces only the skin, to a depth sufficient to deliver the vaccine.

“By developing this technology, we hope to lay the foundation for even faster global development and delivery of vaccines, without the pain and worry,” said lead study author and 3D printing technology entrepreneur Joseph M. DeSimone, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University and Professor Emeritus at the University of California at Chapel Hill.

The results of the study show that the vaccine patch caused a significant T-cell and antigen-specific antibody response, which was 50 times higher than with subcutaneous injection.

This increased immune response can lead to dose savings because the microneedle vaccine patch uses a lower dose to generate an immune response similar to needle and syringe vaccination.

While microneedle patches have been studied for decades, the work of scientists at Carolina and Stanford overcomes some of the past problems: Using 3D printing, microneedles can be easily customized to develop various patches for influenza, measles, hepatitis, or COVID-19 vaccines.

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A vaccine patch containing vaccine-coated microneedles that dissolve in the skin. An additional plus is that such patches can be shipped anywhere in the world without the need for special conditions, and people can apply the patch on their own. Moreover, the ease of use of the vaccine patch can lead to an increase in vaccination rates.

“In general, it is difficult to adapt microneedles for different types of vaccines. These issues, coupled with manufacturing issues, may be holding back the availability of microneedles for vaccine delivery,” said lead study author Shaoming Tian of the UNC School of Medicine.

“Our approach allows us to directly 3D print microneedles, giving us broad opportunities to create better microneedles in terms of performance and cost,” Tian added.

The microneedle patch was 3D printed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill using a prototype CLIP 3D printer invented by Joseph M. DeSimone and manufactured by his Silicon Valley company CARBON.

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“One of the most important lessons we have learned during the pandemic is that innovation in science and technology can influence the global response,” DeSimone said.

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