New vaccine technology holds double promise

Have you ever seen the term "ever-lasting gobb-stopper" in a serious medical story???...

05/03/2007 - A new nanotechnology-based vaccine delivery method could allow the development of single-dose vaccines as well as new vaccines in disease areas of unmet need.

Research presented at last week's ASM Biodefense and Emerging Disease Research Meeting revealed that a biodegradable polymer in a microsphere formulation could be used to develop time-released vaccines, thus reducing the need for vaccine booster shots, as well as stimulate an immune response that traditional vaccines do not.

"Current vaccines are good at producing antibodies that block entry into the cell. In the case of some diseases, such as malaria or tuberculosis, antibody vaccines just aren't effective," said Jenny Wilson-Welder, a lead researcher on the study conducted at Iowa State University.

The polymer, called polyandydride, is already being used as a delivery system for a brain cancer drug designed to inhibit tumor growth but this is the first time its application in vaccines has been shown.

"It's like an everlasting gobstopper or a bar of soap. It wears away slowly over time, delivering its payload," says Wilson-Welder.

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