Rotavax (Oral Vaccine)

“Johns Hopkins biomedical engineering undergraduates developed a quick-dissolving film that may someday deliver rotavirus vaccine to infants in impoverished areas. The team developed a potentially revolutionary way to inoculate infants and children against rotavirus, a disease that kills some 600,000 children worldwide each year.

The novel system they created would deliver life-saving medicine on a thin strip that dissolves in a child’s mouth (think breath-freshener technology) in a matter of seconds. The seven Hopkins students, working with Professor H. Q. Mao, of Hopkins’ materials science and biomedical engineering departments, and Aridis Pharmaceuticals, devised a coating for the medicinal strips that would remain intact at room temperature and when exposed to a child’s stomach acid, but would dissolve in the chemically neutral environment of the small intestine.

Aridis is a privately held biotechnology company focused on infectious diseases located in San Jose, CA, USA. Its clinical candidate is an oral vaccine that prevents gastroenteritis due to rotavirus infection in infants. Rotavax has successfully completed six NIH and Wyeth sponsored Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials with strong safety and efficacy results. Aridis has exclusively licensed this vaccine from the NIH for the North American and European markets.

Rotavax (Oral Vaccine) will be delivered in a highly convenient oral, quick-dissolving thin film dosage form (e.g. Listerine breath freshener strip). The room temperature stabilisation of Rotavax in the thin film format has been demonstrated, which will simplify storage, shipping, and handling requirements. An additional advantage is that Rotavax will require only two doses. Additionally, the Gates Foundation announced that it will provide Aridis with $2 million for testing and refinements of the students’ invention.”