Fridge-free tetanus and diphtheria vaccine passes first human trial in UK
Scientists in the UK have completed the first human trial of a vaccine that does not need refrigeration. Stablepharma converted a liquid tetanus-diphtheria vaccine into a dry powder, stored it at room temperature for a year, then rehydrated and injected it into 60 volunteers. The National Institute for Health and Care Research tested the approach to address a major problem: around half of vaccines produced each year are wasted because they get too hot or too cold during storage and transport. Most vaccines require strict temperature control from manufacture to injection, a practice called the cold chain. That system is difficult to maintain in poor and remote areas or war zones where fridges are scarce and electricity is unreliable.
Room temperature vaccines could cut waste in half and make immunisation feasible in places where cold storage is not reliable, expanding access to life-saving shots in the poorest parts of the world.
Source: Half of vaccines are binned - this plant could change that (bbc.com). Spotted via Good News Network.
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