Poster Presentation Asia-Pacific Vaccine and Immunotherapy Congress 2023

Role of microneedle topography on vaccine coating (#126)

Yanling Yang 1 , Jiexin Zhu 1 , Yousuf Mohammed 2 3
  1. the university of queensland, brisbane, QLD, australia
  2. Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
  3. Frazer Institute, Brisbane

Introduction
Microneedles (MNs), as a novel type of transdermal drug delivery device, can penetrate the stratum corneum and utilize the cellular network in the skin to deliver drugs or collect bio-information (1, 2). In clinical application, MNs have the advantages of pain-free delivery and high patient compliance.
This work focuses on coated microneedles, which are widely used in vaccine research due to their small drug-carrying dose (up to 1 mg) (3-5). Several trials have shown that a microscopic level of vaccine delivered using MNs can produce superior immunogenicity. The microneedle-based vaccine can save a considerable amount of cost and quantity of vaccination and reduce the impact of needle phobia (3).
The coating efficiency of MNs determines their drug delivery and immunogenic capabilities. The adhesion of liquid coatings on solid MNs is closely related to the topography of MNs. Here, we explore the influence of micro-topographical features in 3D printing on the coating efficiency of MNs.

Methods
Four groups of MNs consisting of two print layer heights and two exposure times were designed by CAD software (Autodesk Fusion 360) and printed by an LCD 3D printer (Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K 3D Printer). A 3D measuring laser microscope (LEXT OLS4100, OLYMPUS Ltd.) was used to measure the surface MNs.

Results
Different micro-topographical features were observed, demonstrating that using different 3D printing parameters can change the topography of MNs. After that, we measured the coating efficiency of MNs and analyzed the relationship between the topography and coating efficiency of MNs.

Conclusion/Implications
MNs can provide solutions for improving the safety and stability of vaccines (3). Our work helps the industry and academia in understanding the coating processes by exploring the intricate connection between topography and coating efficiency of MNs, and provides a reliable reference for the development of efficient and safe vaccine delivery technology.

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  2. Dabbagh SR, Sarabi MR, Rahbarghazi R, Sokullu E, Yetisen AK, Tasoglu S. 3d-printed microneedles in biomedical applications. iScience. 2021;24(1):102012.
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