Needle-Free Vaccine Technology For Measles-Rubella: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Fund Mass Production

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation allocated $23.6 million to Micron Biomedical, a U.S.-based life science company, facilitating the mass production of needle-free vaccine technology to expand the accessibility of measles-rubella (MR) vaccine in developing countries. 

The method utilizes dissolvable microneedles on a patch-like device to administer vaccines through the skin.

In low- and middle-income countries, measles remains a leading cause of death, primarily due to limited access to vaccines that require refrigeration during transport and storage and clinicians to administer them. 

Micron is developing a needle-free version of the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine based on its microarray technology. 

The technology reduces the need for a cold chain and allows a community health worker to vaccinate a child within minutes by applying the technology to the skin and pressing a button that confirms administration. The administration of the vaccine is virtually pain-free. 

Earlier this year, Micron announced clinical data from a phase 1/2 study in the Gambia, which assessed the safety, immunogenicity, and acceptability of the commercially available MR vaccine delivered by Micron's microarray technology in adults, toddlers, and infants as young as nine months old.

James Goodson, Senior Scientist and Epidemiologist in the Global Immunization Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, "Microarray-based measles-rubella vaccines could provide an alternative approach to delivering these life-saving vaccines to children in regions with some of the highest rates of unimmunized children in the world and could help overcome some of the most substantial barriers to eradicating measles and rubella globally."

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