Date: August 4, 2009
Title: PATH scientists discover cheap, easy way to protect vaccines from hot and cold
Source: Xconomy
Summary: Scientists at PATH have found a cheap and simple way to tackle the challenges associated with protecting hepatitis B vaccine effectiveness when the vaccine gets too hot or too cold. Here, Luke Timmerman, the national biotechnology editor for Xconomy.com, reports on PATH's recent success in applying heat and freeze stabilization technologies to hepatitis B vaccine.
Read the article on the Xconomy website.
Date: August 3, 2009
Title: PATH develops technology that protects hepatitis B vaccine from heat and freeze damage
Source: PATH
Summary: PATH scientists and collaborators have developed formulation methods that protect hepatitis B vaccine from heat and freeze damage. In partnership with Arecor and the University of Colorado Denver School of Pharmacy, PATH developed a new hepatitis B vaccine formulation exhibiting nine-week stability at 55°C and at least six-month stability at both 37°C and 45°C. Further testing found the new hepatitis B vaccine formulation to be heat-stable for 12 months at 37°C in addition to proving freeze-stable at −20°C.
Read the press release.
Date: August 2009
Title: A heat-stable hepatitis B vaccine formulation
Source: Human Vaccines
Summary: A collaborative effort between PATH, Arecor, and the University of Colorado Denver School of Pharmacy has resulted in a new formulation for recombinant hepatitis B vaccine that demonstrates improved stability at elevated temperatures. The formulation exhibited nine-week stability at 55°C and was also shown to be stable at both 37°C and 45°C for at least six months. This new vaccine formulation has the potential to be stored at room temperature for part of its shelf life and will help ensure the potency of the vaccine in areas where the cold chain is insufficient.
Read the journal article.
Date: July 23, 2009
Title: Characterization of a thermostable hepatitis B vaccine
Source: Vaccine
Summary: A new hepatitis B vaccine formulation developed and tested by PATH scientists and partners at Arecor and the University of Colorado Denver School of Pharmacy has proven stable against repeated freezing at −20°C. In addition, it has proven stable for 12 months at 37°C. The formulation was also found to be well tolerated in rabbits without any significant local or systemic side effects. Overall, the improved stability of this hepatitis B vaccine could be a key factor in ensuring vaccine effectiveness, extending immunization coverage, simplifying immunization logistics, and reducing the costs associated with the cold chain.
Date: May 1, 2009
Title: Opportunities and challenges of developing thermostable vaccines
Source: Expert Review of Vaccines
Summary: This article reviews approaches being used to develop thermostable vaccine formulations that would be resistant to damage caused by freezing or excessive heat, and that could reduce dependence on the cold chain. The challenges associated with the implementation of these novel formulations are discussed, as well as the potential benefits of protecting vaccines from damage caused by breaks in the cold chain.
Read the journal article.
Date: May 1, 2009
Title: Technology solutions for global health, vaccine stabilization
Source: PATH
Summary: As part of PATH’s series on technology updates in Global Health, this fact sheet describes PATH's latest achievements and scope of work in vaccine stabilization (as of May 2009).
Read the fact sheet.
Date: January 21, 2009
Title: Seattle-based PATH develops new ways to protect vaccines
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Summary: No one knows how many children worldwide receive vaccines rendered useless from exposure to extreme temperatures during storage and distribution, but Seattle-based PATH has come up with yet another way to prevent this problem.
Read the article on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer website.
Date: January 21, 2009
Title: PATH develops technology that protects lifesaving vaccines from freeze-damage
Source: PATH
Sumary: PATH scientists have developed a vaccine formulation method that preserves the effectiveness of specific types of vaccines even after repeated exposure to freezing. This formulation method is applicable to vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants—including hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and pertussis vaccines.
Read the press release.
Date: January 1, 2009
Title: Development of a freeze-stable formulation for vaccines containing aluminum adjuvant
Source: Vaccine
Sumary: Vaccines containing aluminum salt adjuvants are prone to inactivation following exposure to freeze–thaw stress. Here, scientists describe an approach to protect vaccines from freeze–thaw inactivation. By including polyethylene glycol 300, propylene glycol, or glycerin in a hepatitis B vaccine, particle agglomeration, changes in the fluorescence emission spectrum—indicative of antigen tertiary structural changes—and losses of in vitro and in vivo indicators of potency were prevented following multiple exposures to −20°C.
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Date: December 2008
Title: Summary of stability data for commonly used vaccines and novel vaccine formulations
Source: PATH and Working in Tandem, Ltd.
Sumary: PATH summarizes stability data for commonly used vaccines as well as research efforts to improve the stability of these products.
Read the summary.