Product/Service Development

Noor Sabah Rakhshani of the Trust for Vaccines and Immunization in Pakistan proposes to develop children's polymer ankle bands incorporating electrochemical indicators that change color at specified time intervals to remind mothers of their childrens' vaccine due dates. This low-cost technology would work well in areas where SMS/text reminders are not feasible due to limited cell phone coverage and lack of funds for cell phone hardware and accounts.

Anastasia Liya Vitkin of Freshpoint Holdings SA of Switzerland will explore new printing technologies for use in the development of a printable label that can be used on vaccines to indicate when contents have surpassed a set temperature threshold or exceeded a cumulative temperature limit. The goal is to create a label that can be printed using low-end, low-cost printing techniques and that will be compatible with other printed temperature indicators.

Spyridon Tsakas of Eulysis UK Limited in the United Kingdom will test an innovative single vial system (SVS) technology that allows for easier transport, reconstitution, and storage of vaccines with lyophilized components. Data gathered on its packaging, transportability and in situ lyophilization potential will help optimize the technology for safe vaccine delivery to the developing world.

Nithya Ramanathan from Nexleaf Analytics in the U.S. will develop a low-cost mobile phone-based device to remotely monitor the temperature of refrigerated units that store and transport temperature-sensitive vaccines and drugs. In Phase I, they produced and tested a simple prototype temperature-sensing device and associated software that enables the wireless uploading of accurate temperature data for real-time monitoring, along with the ability to send SMS alerts upon reaching critical temperatures.

Steve McCarney of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) in the U.S. proposes to accelerate the development and field testing of two solar powered, battery-free icepack freezers to provide a missing link in the cold chain where outreach efforts require frozen packs to cool vaccines during transport and immunization sessions.

Richard Gilstrap of Innovar Scientific Inc. in the U.S. will develop and test a device for rapid detection of freeze-damage in widely used adjuvant-type vaccines. This device could provide critical information needed for cold-chain optimization and effective immunization programs.

Nancy Muller from PATH in the U.S. will develop approaches to prevent freezing and thereby destruction of vaccines during cold chain transport. Maintaining vaccines below 8°C while preventing freezing is particularly challenging during their transport in developing countries. In Phase I they designed low-cost liners containing engineered phase change materials that fit existing vaccine carriers and provide a thermal buffer between the vaccines and standard ice-packs.

Claire Dillavou of the University of California, Los Angeles in the U.S. will develop compostable vaccine packaging to diminish the environmental impact of residual debris from mass vaccination campaigns in developing countries lacking adequate disposal infrastructure.

Lauren Franzel of PATH in the U.S. will explore the use of bar code technology to improve vaccine supply and logistics management as well as strategic forecasting of vaccine supply and demand. Real-time data could ensure allocation of doses to where they are needed most, reduce wastage and inventory holding costs, and enhance capacity for strategic matching of vaccine supply and demand at a global level.

Wolf-Dietrich Hardt of ETH Zurich, Institute of Microbiology in Switzerland will study the "swimming" behavior of diarrhea-causing pathogens, which move using tiny tails called flagella, to develop micro-structures that can trap the pathogen before it infects tissues. If successful, these particles could be delivery orally to prevent diarrheal illness without harming commensal gut bacteria that do not swim.