Medigen Partners With U.S. Firm To Develop COVID-19 Vaccine Patch

Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp. is partnering with a US biotech company to develop a COVID-19 vaccine patch, with human clinical trials set as early as in 2022, the Taiwanese vaccine maker told Han Ting-ting and Evelyn Kao of the Central News Agency (CNA).

Photo Insert: Medigen COVID-19 vaccine packaging

Medigen said it has been collaborating with Vaxess Technologies, a biotechnology company that is working on the MIMIX smart release microneedle patch, since 2020 to develop a brand new skin patch vaccine for COVID-19, Medigen revealed.

The patch being developed uses the MIMIX system and Medigen's COVID-19 vaccine, a protein subunit vaccine containing the recombinant spike protein (S-2P) antigen.

Trials on animals have found that vaccination with the microneedle patches was safe and delivered a strong immune response, Medigen said.

Vaxess' proprietary MIMIX technology platform was developed at Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT.)

The MIMIX patch is virtually painless and after wearing it for a few minutes, it is removed from the skin while the medication continues to be delivered to the immune system over the ensuing days or weeks.

Engineered for stability, Vaxess' patch does not require refrigeration and can be shipped to and applied in low resource settings, according to Medigen.

Vaxess opened a pilot GMP (good manufacturing practices) manufacturing plant in Massachusetts last week to produce various products using the MIMIX smart release patch technology, said Vaxess CEO Michael Schrader.

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