$3.5m development to make needles a thing of the past
http://www.qbr.com.au/index.cfm?storyid=31242&cp=displaystory
Vaccinations are set to become a lot less painful, with Queensland researchers awarded a $1,240,519 Innovation Projects Fund grant to develop a "nanopatch" to deliver vaccines.
When all other partner funding is included, the total project involves an overall investment of $3.5 million.
"The patch will contain very tiny projections (micro-nanoprojections) that when applied to the skin will deliver the vaccine to the target cells below the surface," says Premier Peter Beattie.
"It’s a revolutionary approach that will overcome several of the problems of existing vaccine delivery - including the need for medical personnel to administer needles, the cost and logistics of storing and transporting vaccines, and hygienic needle use and disposal.
The University of Queensland research team will collaborate with the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and the World Health Organisation.
"This project also highlights Queensland’s growing credentials in the area of nanotechnology, an international market projected to be worth over US$2 trillion by the year 2015," says Beattie.
