To ensure vaccine availability in even remote parts of the world, a team of researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a mobile vaccine printer capable of producing possibly hundreds of vaccines a day that fits on tabletops and can reportedly be deployed anywhere.

According to MIT, the printer can reportedly manufacture thumbnail-sized, vaccine-filled patches featuring hundreds of microneedles containing thermostable COVID-19 RNA vaccines. The team demonstrated that once the patch adheres to skin, the needle tips dissolve and subsequently release the vaccine.

Source: MIT

To create the patches, the printer includes an internal robotic arm that injects ink — composed of RNA vaccine molecules in lipid nanoparticles, polymers and a 50/50 combination of polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyvinyl alcohol — into microneedle molds. Once injected into the molds, a vacuum chamber “sucks” the ink to the bottom and the molds are left to dry for a day or two, once they are filled.

The resulting COVID-19 micro vaccine needles were subsequently tested on mice which responded similarly to how those vaccinated with a traditional, injected RNA vaccine responded. Further, the team demonstrated that the machine could produce 100 patches in 48 hours.

With future patches currently in development for diseases including polio, measles and rubella, the MIT team anticipates that adaptations can be made to the printing system for manufacturing other types of vaccines.

A paper detailing the printing process, “A microneedle vaccine printer for thermostable COVID-19 mRNA vaccines,” appears in the journal Nature Biotechnology.