Aug 28, 2020
A freeze-dried COVID-19 vaccine to improve the immunization supply chain
There is an urgent need for a COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, multiple COVID-19 vaccines are in various stages of development, with Moderna, Pfizer, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZenecca at the frontline. Both Moderna and Pfizer are developing mRNA vaccines that must be stored and transported at -70 °C or -20 °C. This greatly limits their distribution throughout the world because of the complicated and expensive supply chain needed to distribute these vaccines*.
Engimata has focused on development of vaccines that can be transported and stored outside the cold supply chain. We have recently developed a thermostable COVID-19 vaccine that, unlike other vaccines being developed, does not require a complicated cold-chain for transportation and distribution.
Vaccine wastage in the supply chain due to temperature fluctuations is a major problem for current vaccines and costs the government and WHO billions of dollars every year. In order to combat COVID-19, it is crucial to overcome transportation barriers and distribute a vaccine across the world.
