Wilfried Weber wins first price at the Innovation Award competition with novel vaccine administration technology
Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber, professor of synthetic biology at the Institute of Biology II and BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, has received an innovation award worth 2000 euros along with Dr. Raphael Gübeli, Dr. Adrian Sprenger and Sabrina Wend.
The German Bioregions Work Group selected Weber for the award at the 2014 German Biotechnology Days for his invention of drug depots that can be injected under the skin, simplifying the process of administering vaccines.
Many vaccines, for instance those against hepatitis B or the human papillomavirus, need to be administered two to three times at fixed intervals to take full effect. This involves multiple doctor’s appointments, which patients consider a nuisance and often don’t keep. “As a result, half of the vaccinations against the human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer, remain ineffective. Since this vaccine has a market volume in the billions, this means a great loss for the health insurance companies,” explains Sprenger, who works in Weber’s lab.
Administering a vaccine three times is particularly impractical in developing countries: The vaccine has to be cooled during transportation and storage, and it is necessary to coordinate mass vaccinations with doctors and patients on three different days. The lack of infrastructure in developing countries makes this a very difficult and costly endeavor. "Our depot technology allows doctors to administer the initial dose of the vaccine together with all subsequent doses, which are stored in drug depots, with a single injection. While the initial dose takes effect in the body immediately, the subsequent doses remain in the depots until the patient releases them by ingesting pills at set intervals. The patient can easily do this at home by himself," explains Sprenger.
Vaccines in drug depots under the skin
Wilfried Weber first introduced the concept of "remote-controlled drug depots" in 2013 in two publications in the journals and , in which he described a successful administration of the vaccine against the human papillomavirus and hepatitis B in mice. He has already received an international patent for the innovation. Weber’s team uses biocompatible threadlike molecules that can store the vaccines in the body.
As these molecules bind water, the drug depots behave like a gel and can be administered by injection. In addition, these molecular threads bond at the ends with two different biomolecules that stick together like magnets. They thus form a tight knot that can store the vaccine without allowing it to escape. When the patient swallows a pill containing one of the two biomolecules in free form later on, the knot is loosened. The molecule from the pill squeezes itself between the bond, like between two magnets, causing the molecular threads to separate. The knot dissolves into its constituent parts, releasing the vaccine stored inside. Only then can the vaccine take effect in the tissue and activate the immune system. In this way, the ingestion of a pill achieves the same effect as an injection: The patient is immunized against the virus.
Bionicure
Wend and Sprenger have now launched the project “Bionicure” to develop the depot technology further. They have only conducted trials with mice so far. However, since all components of the system have already been applied in clinical practice on humans, the researchers hope to develop the concept to the point where it can be approved for the market quickly. They have already tested the depot technology for the vaccine against the human papillomavirus and hepatitis B, but the concept could also be used for many other vaccines, explains Sprenger.
Researchers have previously developed vaccination methods involving nasal sprays, creams, inhalation sprays, and oral medications as alternatives to the classic injection. However, these vaccinations take effect in the skin or the mucous membrane, which can vary widely from person to person or under different conditions. “A nasal spray might not be the best vaccination method if the patient has a cold. Our system enables doctors to administer a vaccine through the tried and tested method of injecting it under the skin, where there are few differences between patients,” says Sprenger. As the vaccination system only requires a single injection, it has the potential to solve many problems plaguing the proper administration of vaccines in developing countries. “In addition, the vaccination therapy is also more convenient for everyday use by patients in the Western world,” explains Sprenger. The vaccination system is an example of the successful cooperation between synthetic biology, materials research, and signaling research at the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies.
More information: