Biotechnology company Particles for Humanity has announced a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of vaccine delivery technology research.
The grant will be used to evaluate a single injection (SI) vaccine delivery technology invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that delivers the dosage required for full immunization in a single injection. Many vaccines, including the two mRNA COVID vaccines recently announced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, require multiple doses for full immunity — one of the reasons why, according to the company, more than nineteen million children are under-vaccinated. Reducing the number of vaccine injections and clinic visits required to achieve immunity has the potential to increase access to and compliance with full vaccination regimens.
“This pandemic highlights how critical vaccines are to protecting our global community. Multiple injections create a barrier to each person’s ability to achieve full immunization, as well as a burden on the health system to manufacture, package, ship, store, and administer multiple doses,” said Particles for Humanity CEO and co-founder Sherri C. Oberg. “These problems can become acute during a pandemic when billions of people must be vaccinated quickly. This technology is an opportunity to improve access to life-saving vaccines for individuals while minimizing the burden on the healthcare system.”
Source: PND
