Stablepharma has partnered with the University of Strathclyde to advance its vaccine thermo-stabilisation technology following recent positive testing data.
Currently, the ‘cold chain’ is a significant barrier in front of transporting and storing COVID mRNA vaccines, particularly in countries with unreliable infrastructures, such as India and Brazil. The WHO estimates that up to 50% of all vaccines manufactured currently lose their efficacy before they can be delivered, often as a result of ‘cold-chain’ failures. StablevaX reportedly enables vaccines to be transported and stored for years in a syringe without refrigeration.
‘This partnership is excellent news for Stablepharma in the progression of our COVID mRNA vaccine programme’, said Özgür Tuncer, CEO of Stablepharma. ‘To work with Professor Yvonne Perrie and her team at the University of Strathclyde, which is one of the world’s leading institutions in lipid nano-particle (LNP) and mRNA science, is a great step towards thermo-stabilising COVID vaccines which require refrigeration of up to -80°C”.
‘We have received very encouraging in-vitro data on our COVID mRNA programme, from an independent laboratory in Spain who conducted quantitative PCR tests’, said Dr Arcadio Garcia de Castro, Head of Research & Development at Stablepharma, ‘showing that the whole genome SARS-CoV2-RNA, with both the S and E gene being preserved at +25°C and +45°C for 60 days without degradation by our novel StablevaX technology’.
In light of the pandemic, the challenge of equitable and efficient vaccine delivery has never appeared starker. ‘Our science team have produced a possible breakthrough by thermally stabilising these notoriously unstable genes, working with the University of Strathclyde is a fantastic opportunity for us to quickly progress to the next step to hopefully produce a fridge free solution for the current mRNA Covid vaccines’, added Nick Child, VP & co-founder of Stablepharma.
The data reportedly demonstrates the technology can thermo-stabilise naked COVID mRNA at 45°C for 2 months and now, the partnership will move forward with thermo-stabilising the LNP encapsulated COVID mRNA. ‘This is a particularly important step in our progress as it will model the COVID mRNA vaccine so that it can be transported and stored at room temperature, without the need for refrigeration (‘cold chain’)’. ‘This has the potential to transform vaccine delivery pipelines and dramatically improve vaccine access globally which is at the core of our vision’, said Dr Bruce Roser, Chair & founder of Stablepharma.
The company is also partnering with the European manufacturer BB-NCIPD (Bul Bio) to create a fridge-free Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine.
