Journal article

Stabilization of vaccines and antibiotics in silk and eliminating the cold chain

Jeney Zhang, Eleanor Pritchard, Xiao Hu, David L. Kaplan, Thomas Valentin, Bruce Panilaitis, Fiorenzo G. Omenetto

Sensitive biological compounds, such as vaccines and antibiotics, traditionally require a time-dependent “cold chain” to maximize therapeutic activity. This flawed process results in billions of dollars worth of viable drug loss during shipping and storage, and severely limits distribution to developing nations with limited infrastructure. To address these major limitations, we demonstrate self-standing silk protein biomaterial matrices capable of stabilizing labile vaccines and antibiotics, even at temperatures up to 60 °C over more than 6 months. Initial insight into the mechanistic basis for these findings is provided. Importantly, these findings suggest a transformative approach to the cold chain to revolutionize the way many labile therapeutic drugs are stored and utilized throughout the world.

 

Authors

Languages

  • English

Publication year

2012

Journal

PNAS

Volume

109

Issue

30

Type

Journal article

Categories

  • Vaccines & delivery devices

Tags

  • Cold room / freezer room
  • Distribution system
  • New vaccine introduction

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Added on: 2015-11-21 13:24:06

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Links

PubMED URL

http://www.pnas.org/content/109/30/11981.abstract

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