Jessica Joyce 

PhD Defense Presentation 

Date: Friday, August 11, 2017 

Time: 3:00 PM
Location:  Suddath Seminar Room (IBB 1128)

Committee Members: 

Mark Prausnitz, PhD (Advisor, ChBE/BME, Georgia Tech)
Krish Roy, PhD (BME, Georgia Tech)
Philip Santangelo, PhD (BME, Georgia Tech)
Julie Champion, PhD (ChBE, Georgia Tech)
Paul Rota, PhD (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Title: Development of microneedle patches for measles-rubella vaccination and extended delivery vaccination

Despite cheap and effective vaccines, nearly 1.5 million children die each year from vaccine preventable diseases. The World Health Organization has called for novel vaccine technologies that can reduce needle-and-syringe use, reduce the dose of vaccine required, and reduce vaccine wastage, all while inducing an appropriate immune response. Microneedle patches offer a unique method of delivering vaccines into the skin without the use of needles and syringes. These patches consist of an array of needles in which each needle is composed of water-soluble polymers, sugars, excipients, and the vaccine. When inserted into the skin, the needles dissolve and deliver their embedded cargo. These patches meet a critical need for vaccination campaigns. They come in small, single dose packaging and can be administered by minimally trained personnel. Once dissolved, the needles leave no sharps waste. Additionally, the patches can be stored at elevated temperatures without damage to the vaccine. When the vaccine is delivered into the skin, studies have shown improved immune response compared to a standard intramuscular injection.

This work developed two novel uses for microneedle patches. The first innovation delivers both measles and rubella vaccines in a single patch. Formulations were developed to minimize the loss of vaccine activity during the manufacturing process and storage at elevated temperatures. These patches were shown to be immunogenic in juvenile and infant rhesus macaques, and vaccination with a microneedle patch was able to protect the infants from a live measles viral challenge.  The second project investigated a novel vaccination strategy using daily dosing to improve the immune response compared to a bolus injection. In this work, daily intradermal injections or daily microneedle patches were used to deliver vaccines over the course of one month, and this regime induced responses comparable to two bolus doses. Additionally, this technique can be applied to different types of vaccines. The microneedle technologies developed in this work can improve vaccine coverage.