Vaxxas opens manufacturing facility for needle-free vaccine patch
James Spargo | June 19, 2023 | News story | Research and Development | Immunology, Vaxxas, manufacturing, needle-free vaccines, vaccines
Clinical stage biotech company Vaxxas has announced that it is opening a biomedical manufacturing facility in Brisbane, Australia, for the production of its high-density microarray patches (HP-MAPs), used for vaccinations. The 5,500m2 facility will be Vaxxas’ global headquarters.
Vaxxas’ HP-MAPs uses an ultra-high-density array of projections applied to the skin as a patch inside a small applicator device. When applied, the patch delivers a vaccine to the immune cells immediately below the skin. This needle-free technology also uses dry-coating technology to apply the vaccine onto the projections, potentially eliminating the need for refrigeration during storage and transportation.
130 people are currently employed at Vaxxas’ Queensland operations, with a further 200 job openings planned over the next three to five years. The facility brings together the R&D and manufacturing departments, streamlining the commercialisation process.
Vaxxas’ CEO David Hoey, commented: “The Vaxxas Biomedical Facility represents a new and exciting chapter for our company, as it is foundational for our next phase of growth. With the support of the Queensland State and Australian Federal Governments, the Vaxxas Biomedical Facility will firmly position Australia at the forefront of vaccine technology innovation. The site will significantly increase our manufacturing capacity, creating new local, skilled jobs, while enabling Vaxxas to progress through late-stage clinical trials that will bring our first commercial vaccine products to the market.”
Steven Miles, Queensland deputy premier, minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and minister assisting the premier on Olympic and Paralympic Games Infrastructure, stated: “Queensland is fast shaping up as a global research and innovation hub thanks to the Palaszczuk Government’s investment in state-of-the-art facilities like this one. Economic Development Queensland worked closely with Vaxxas to progress designs and approval for this facility … The Government is committed to supporting Queensland biomedical start-ups to scale up successfully and ensure we keep this innovation and our best and brightest researchers on home soil. This world-renowned technology has the potential to play a vital role in pandemic-preparedness because it allows vaccines to be deployed quickly and easily to our communities. Queensland is going from strength to strength as the place to work and invest in science, and Vaxxas is a fantastic example of a home-grown biotech success story that we need to retain here in Queensland. The opening of the Vaxxas Biomedical Facility in Brisbane’s Northshore is taking us one step closer to achieving that goal.”
James Spargo
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