Delivery technologies
Today, most vaccines are delivered via intramuscular or subcutaneous routes using a needle and syringe. In the future, novel delivery technologies may enhance the reliability and effectiveness of vaccines, while also improving safety of delivery. Additionally, methods such as intradermal delivery hold the potential for reducing the quantity of vaccine required for an effective dose and saving costs to immunization programs, which is especially important in low-income countries.
PATH is working to improve vaccine delivery through the exploration and development of new delivery technologies. By collaborating with industry partners, manufacturers, and ministries of health, PATH strives to advance devices that make vaccine delivery more reliable, more effective, and easier for developing countries. Visit PATH's website to learn more about its work in vaccine delivery technologies.
View resources on delivery technologies
Key resources
Intradermal Delivery of Vaccines: Potential Benefits and Current Challenges (2011)
An article that explores how the delivery of vaccine antigens to the dermis and/or epidermis layers of the skin might be more efficient than injection into the muscle or subcutaneous tissue.
Improving the Reach of Vaccines to Low-Resource Regions, With a Needle-Free Vaccine Delivery Device and Long-Term Thermostabilization (2011)
An article that describes how dry-coated microprojections can deliver vaccine to abundant antigen-presenting cells in the skin and induce efficient immune responses.
Featured PATH resources
Reconstitution Technologies (2012)
A fact sheet that provides an overview of single-dose, prefilled reconstitution devices, which can make reconstitution of critical vaccines safer and more economical.
Intranasal Delivery Devices (2011)
A fact sheet about PATH's work on intranasal delivery devices to administer vaccines.
Page last updated: November 2012.
